The Mexican driver for Red Bull Racing, Sergio Perez, found himself in a tight qualifying duel with his teammate Max Verstappen at the Japanese Grand Prix for the first time this season.
While Verstappen clinched pole position, Perez’s performance was just 0.066 tenths off the Dutchman, finishing a hair’s breadth behind him.
It appeared that Perez has regained the pace to be just behind Max right here in Japan. While for the first two sessions it seemed like there was no one challenging the Dutchman, Perez succeeded in the last stint in putting together an almost perfect lap. In doing so, he matched the times of his teammate and managed to surpass the British driver Lando Norris with McLaren.
Reflecting on the intense qualifying session, Perez remarked: “It was close today, really close with Max. It felt like a good lap. It was quite tricky out there, especially closing out the laps. It was quite easy to lose a couple of tenths into the last section of the track. So we hooked it all together, but unfortunately, it was just not enough.”
When questioned about the possibility of claiming pole position, Perez remained optimistic, emphasizing the slim margins that separate success from disappointment in Formula 1.
“Yeah, I think we’ve been really close all the way through qualifying as well. You are in those little margins, you know, anything can make a difference.”
The final corner appears to have posed quite a challenge, especially for the beginning of the quick lap, where only a few in the last stint managed to improve. Meanwhile, others such as Norris and Sainz were unable to match their initial lap times.
“I didn’t have a great exit opening up the lap, so probably that could have been the difference, you know, but I think we are in a good position for tomorrow.”
Perez’s recognition of the team’s less-than-optimal long-run pace in the morning session indicates a need for improvement. However, his confidence in the team’s efforts implies an optimistic outlook for the race.
“Our long run pace hasn’t been that strong this morning, but we work quite a bit, so tomorrow we will be able to be stronger.”