Sergio Pérez was only able to secure a pole position in Formula 1 for the second time on Saturday in Jeddah – a year after his first pole at the same track. The Mexican benefited, among other things, from the technical defect of his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, who paved the way for pole – and perhaps a possible victory tomorrow.
Pérez took the chance and put his car in first place on the grid – 0.155 seconds ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who will, however, take a penalty transfer so that Fernando Alonso will be on the front row alongside Perez on Sunday.
For the Mexican, qualifying in the car was definitely a treat: “If you have a good car that you can push with here, then you can really feel it coming to life,” he says. He could definitely feel that in Q3, where he was able to go half a second faster than in Q2 and nailed his first run well.
“I had another good jump and was able to get pole because unfortunately my second lap didn’t work out,” he says.
Pérez believes in Verstappen comeback
Pérez had secured the best time in the first Q3 run, but was unable to improve it again as his wheels locked when braking on Turn 1. “Yes, it’s always difficult,” he says. “It’s so easy to lose two tenths there, especially with the low downforce we’re running.”
But the competition couldn’t keep up with the Red Bull, who was able to keep his best time and will therefore start the race from first place tomorrow and could claim his fifth career win – after all, the biggest rival only has to start from 15th place.
Many expect Verstappen to quickly come back up front and maybe even win the race. “We already have a good car in the race,” admits Pérez. “I think we’re a little bit better than the competition. But it depends. A lot can happen, but I expect him to come back.”
But maybe he should hope for his own race that that won’t happen so quickly. Pérez is asked if he will have a nightmare that his team-mate is in his rear-view mirror after 15 laps, but he replies: “I’m not going into the race with Max in mind.”