Perez sets sights on beating McLaren on Sunday

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Sergio Perez has said that Racing Point should be able to beat McLaren in tomorrow's Austrian Grand Prix.

Perez qualified in sixth place for the race, putting him midway between Lando Norris in fourth and Carlos Sainz in eighth. His own team mate Lance Stroll will start just behind Sainz from ninth.

The new RP20 - dubbed the 'Pink Mercedes' due to its similarity in design to that of Mercedes who provide the team's power units - proved the potential it showed in pre-season qualifying, and was in strong form on Saturday.

That gives Perez high hopes of success in race trim.

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“We knew all the way through the weekend that the margins were very small around us, with the McLarens, the Red Bulls and people behind like the Renaults,” he told the media after the end of the session.

“McLaren showed their true pace right at the end there in Q3. My Q3 was okay, I found the track a bit slower," he said. “I’m happy with sixth on the grid: I matched Albon for fifth, but unfortunately he set the lap before me!

“I think we have good race pace," he insisted. "We should be able to fight them from there. We’ll definitely be in the mix. I will be disappointed if we don’t beat them tomorrow.

"We’ll be in the mix to fight for points, but we’ll also see how all the other teams stack up. The first lap is always tricky here, but if we can keep it clean and tidy I think we can gain some ground through the first few corners.

“All-in-all it was a positive qualifying for the team, both cars in Q3. It’s a great way to start the season," he added. "It’s such a buzz to be back racing and let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Stroll was similarly happy with the session, in which he was fourth quickest in Q1 and sixth in Q2.

“It was a positive qualifying for the team and both cars in Q3 is a great way to start the season," he said. "My Q3 lap was clean, and it was a good shot, but there’s always room for improvement to optimise the lap.

"It’s really tight here between all the cars, so a couple of tenths makes a big difference and can cost you as many as five or six places. That’s what the fans back home want to see, as well as the drivers.

"We’re in a good position to score points in tomorrow’s race and it’s going to be an exciting one.”

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.