It was revealed at the 2023 Miami GP that famous Dutch DJ Tiesto is a “big fan” of Sergio Perez
Tiesto was on hand to present Perez with the Pirelli pole position award after qualifying, with the Mexican having claimed his second consecutive pole position.
Despite having struggled throughout free practice, Perez did everything right when it mattered in qualifying, with his Q3 banker lap having ultimately been good enough for pole.
The likes of Max Verstappen were unable to set a competitive lap in Q3 after the closing two minutes were cancelled, due to Charles Leclerc having crashed at Turn 8.
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Leclerc’s crash with just over a minute and 30 seconds remaining on the clock saw the session red flagged and not resumed, handing pole position to Checo.
As a result, the grid for Sunday’s race at the Miami International Autodrome was an odd one, with Verstappen starting ninth, Leclerc seventh and Perez first.
Perez ultimately failed to convert pole into victory, with Verstappen making his way through the field to win the grand prix.
One person who was rooting for the Mexican was Tiesto, who informed the Red Bull star that he’s hoping he can “win it this year”.
“I’m a big fan,” said Tiesto.
“I hope you win it this year,” he added, whilst Perez started walking away.
Perez certainly wasn’t expecting to be on pole for Sunday given that he has really struggled for outright pace all weekend.
Even a front row start wasn’t really guaranteed for him ahead of the session, with Ferrari having found some pace over one lap.
The Mexican admitted himself that the weekend leading up to qualifying had been his “worst” of the season so far, but that a “small change” made his RB19 “more alive”.
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“I think it’s been my worst weekend up to qualifying,” Perez said.
“I just couldn’t figure out how to pull those tenths that I was missing all the time to Max and to the Ferraris. I was just re-setting everything.
“We did a small change into qualifying that really made everything became more alive. I think with this tarmac we were just playing a bit with the tools, and we put the lap in when it mattered.”