After tasting success at his home Grand Prix last year with a podium, Sergio Perez will be fantasising about a win in Mexico this weekend.
The Mexican looked strong in practice however he will start Sunday’s race from P4, being beating in qualifying by his teammate Max Verstappen and the two Mercedes drivers.
Perez will be frustrated by this, with his home Grand Prix being one of his best, taking fans through a lap with his steering wheel while looking away from the footage, impressively getting every turn and gear change spot on.
The 32-year-old has put his underwhelming qualifying result down to some technical issues that he experienced during the sessions.
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“It was a mess, a total mess,” he said in his post-qualifying interviews.
“We had an electrical issue from the beginning, and if I look back at my qualifying, I was nearly knocked out in Q1.
“I had no reference to progress and no lap-times either. Sometimes I could not even figure out where I was with my brake balance either, so it was a total mess,” said the four-time race winner, explaining the issue.
“In the end, I think fourth is not the worst, but we certainly could have been quite a lot higher than where we are.”
The Mexican was initially unable to activate his DRS in Q1 but this was a problem that was fixed immediately, with Perez and Red Bull hoping the other electrical hinderances can be ironed out before the race.
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British fans have been treated to many Lewis Hamilton victories over the years at Silverstone, while Zandvoort has seen Verstappen dominance since its return to the calendar last year, but Mexico City is yet to see a Mexican driver win their home race, something they will have dreamed about last night prior to the race.
One point to note that may reassure Perez is that he outqualified both Ferraris, and with the Red Bull significantly faster than the two Mercedes ahead of him in terms of top speed, he might have a chance at the race win should he be able to clear Lewis Hamilton and George Russell ahead of him early on in the race.
Only two points behind second place Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ championship, so a strong result at home for Perez could be significant come the end of the season.