Perez sets himself podium target for rest of season

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Sergio Perez says that his objective for the rest of the season is to finish on the podium in each of the remaining ten Grands Prix of 2023.

The Mexican driver finished the Belgian grand Prix in second place, albeit more than 22 seconds behind his Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen who was in a class of his own at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.

Perez had started on the front row and took the lead from pole sitter Charles Leclerc on the first run through Les Combes, quickly pulling out a two second lead over the Ferrari.

But there was nothing he could do about Verstappen, who charged his way past Lewis Hamilton and then Leclerc, before easily dismissing the remaining two second gap to catch and pass Perez for the lead on lap 13.

"We had a great start, managed to get through Charles and just doing my own race," Leclerc told Sky Sports F1 commentator Martin Brundle in parc ferme after the finish.

"Max came through pretty fast in the second stint, so nothing I could have done there," he continued. "And then afterwards, it was just making sure we could drive home safely without too much damage in the car.

Read also: Smooth win for cocky Verstappen in shower-hit Belgium GP

It's the second podium in a row for Perez, who started the season well to put himself into second place in the drivers championship behind Verstappen, but went through a lean spell after suffering problems in qualifying.

There was a spell of six qualifying sessions in which he failed to make it through to Q3 on five occasions. Perez said he needs to rule out such mistakes in the future if he's to ever have a chance of contending for titles..

"I really looking to not leave the podium anymore from now until the end of the year," he said. "It has been a bit of a rough patch.

"But we have managed to score good points for the team," he continued, adding that he was looking forward to putting his feet up in August after a punishing schedule so far this season.

"I really need the summer break," he acknowledged. "It has been intense, so I look forward to coming back very strong for Zandvoort."

The Netherlands Grand Prix will be held on August 27, with Red Bull hoping to continue their run of back-to-back wins - and take another step towards a possible unprecedented full season sweep of victories.

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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.