Sergio Pérez did not have an easy start in the twelfth round of the 2022 Formula 1 calendar, the French Grand Prix, but in Saturday’s qualifying session he managed a third place on the starting grid, behind Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, and Max Verstappen, his current teammate.
In Q1, Pérez did a lap of 1:32.354s to place himself among the five fastest of the round, but in Q2 he was overtaken by Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari by a difference of a second, something that gave the Mexican a bad feeling before the final round of Q3.
At that point, the Red Bull rider made a significant leap in his performance to set a time of 1:31.335s that put him just 0.463s off poleman Leclerc ‘s time, securing third starting position for Sunday’s race. a result that left him very satisfied after a difficult start to the weekend at Paul Ricard.
“Yes. It’s been a good recovery,” Pérez said during the post-qualifying interview.
“To be honest, I haven’t felt comfortable at any point all weekend. I’ve been struggling a lot, I think it was probably my worst weekend so far in qualifying. And finally we managed to recover well.”
The Mexican is clear that his goal is to try to close the gap in the drivers’ championship with Leclerc , who took second place from him as a result of Checo’s accident with Mercedes’ George Russell at the Austrian Grand Prix, but he admits that the Ferraris have proven to be at home on the French circuit.
“Definitely the goal for tomorrow is to try to recover [some points]. Try to beat the red cars. But today they were very strong,” concluded the driver from Guadalajara, who is third in the drivers’ standings.
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