Perez: Up until qualifying it has been a struggle

Sergio Perez admitted he was struggling over the course of the Miami Grand Prix weekend, and is looking to capitalize on his pole position to achieve a decent result in Sunday’s race.

Sergio Perez arrived in Miami on the back of great weekend in Baku where he won both Sprint Race and the Grand Prix, and he was bullish about his chances of taking the 2023 Formula 1 Championship fight to teammate Max Verstappen.

The Mexican, however, struggled to match his Dutch teammate on Miami International Autodrome’s new asphalt, and was far off in terms of pace with the latter going into qualifying on Saturday as favorite for pole, but a mistake on his first Q3 lap compounded by a late Red Flag caused by Charles Leclerc crashing, meant that pole was gifted to Perez who had put in a decent banker lap at that time.

“Overall, I was happy with today, we delivered when it mattered and under a lot of pressure,” Perez said in Red Bull‘s post qualifying debrief. “It was good.

“We had a difficult weekend up until qualifying it has been a struggle. The track was improving but this tarmac has only recently been laid and is really sensitive, it has made things a little tricky so I needed that second lap. I knew coming into Turn 3 that you cannot leave anything on the table and it was important to make sure it was a strong lap,” the 33-year-old explained.

Perez’s focus not shifting to the Grand Prix

“It never feels nice when you see another driver crashing or a red flag on track and I was a bit surprised, I thought we were going to go again and not end the session there, but that was it.

“I just want to do well tomorrow, it’s a new day and anything can happen,” a wary Perez added. “I have to be fully committed and we have to try to do our own race. The target is to get the perfect launch and then the perfect race.

‘I am very happy; I feel like I am in a good moment but it is a long season and it is all about consistency,” the six-time grand prix winner concluded.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner hailed Perez’ qualifying in Miami, insisting he deserved his third F1 career pole.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after qualifying, Horner said: “Had it been stopped immediately you could have possibly got round (for another lap). That’s the difficulty of not getting your first lap in.

“Checo did that and it was a great first lap. Delighted with the pole for Checo just frustrated not to have both the cars up there with Max having a lot to do tomorrow,” he lamented.

“It’s amazing. It was a great first lap for Checo and I think he had the potential to go quicker as well. They were all struggling with the wind getting up and whether that’s what caught Max and Charles out, I don’t know.

“It was getting tricky but Checo got the pole which was well deserved,” the Briton concluded.