Perez regrets tyre choice after qualifying P3 in Australia

Sergio Perez ended qualifying in third, behind team-mate Max Verstappen and pole sitter Charles Leclerc.

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez is pleased with what he described as a “decent” qualifying result at the 2022 Australian Grand Prix, but wishes he had gone with a different set of tyres in the final phase.

His team-mate Max Verstappen was left frustrated by his second place as he missed out on pole position at the end to Charles Leclerc but, conversely, Perez has few complaints.

“It felt good,” he said after qualifying.

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“Q1, Q2, things were going good. With all the red flags it’s always hard to keep the momentum going.”

The Mexican conceded that he might have gone for a different approach to tyre selection if he had it to do again which, subsequently, might have aided his quest for pole as well as his race strategy on Sunday.

“I regret a bit the decision we took going into Q3 with our strategy on the tyres but I think P3 is a decent start for tomorrow,” he added.

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Verstappen remained hopeful that the stability of the Red Bull might be improved in race trim, and the 32-year-old is excited to go racing in front of the vibrant Australian fans again. 

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“Hopefully,” he replied when asked if he is confident in the car’s race pace.

“I think we’ve got a nice race ahead of us so first of all I hope we make a lot of houses very happy tomorrow because [we have] full grandstands already on Saturday so hopefully tomorrow we can give them a nice race.”

Perez has been called to the stewards for allegedly failing to slow under yellow flags when George Russell went straight on at Turn 11 in Q2, but team principal Christian Horner was adamant that his driver had given up three or four tenths of a second by lifting off in the final sector.