Sergio Perez almost “blindly” during qualifying
The Mexican driver, who will start from the 4th position on the starting grid of his national Grand Prix, had a difficult qualifying session. A major technical problem affected his session. Destabilized by a lack of important data, the local hero was unable to make the most of all his laps in the Austrian car.
Close to his teammate and always present at the forefront during the various practice sessions, Sergio Pérez had high hopes for this qualifying session that took place on his home turf. Unfortunately, from the beginning of the session, the Mexican driver found himself in a difficult situation that did not allow him to get the most out of his car.
“It was really unfortunate. We had an electrical issue throughout the qualifying. We struggled with the DRS and it was important to make sure everything was right,” he told SkySports after the session.
But the Mexican driver was not done with surprises, as another even more important problem impacted his driving, making him feel like he was almost driving blind by depriving him of crucial data for his fast laps.
I was almost “blind” throughout the qualifications. No reference time. No information about my brake balance and lap times. So, it was just a mess.
The steering wheels of Formula 1 cars are equipped with data that allows drivers to compare themselves to previous laps, turn by turn. This is how drivers can instantly know if they are improving or not. Without this missing data, Perez was unable to progress as he had hoped, not knowing where he was losing time as well as usual.
In his misfortune, the local hero is almost satisfied with being 4th on the starting grid this Sunday after this qualifying session that could have turned into a disaster.
When I look at the whole session, I almost got eliminated in Q1 and Q2, so being P4 is not the end of the world, but I truly believe that we could have fought for pole position.
If he is behind his teammate as well as the two Mercedes of Russell and Hamilton, Sergio Perez can take advantage of his starting position. Indeed, the significant distance between the starting line and the first turn favors slipstreaming, and with the help of the high top speed of his car, he could gain an advantage in the first turn over the three leaders.
Proud of his audience, the Mexican driver will be able to count on the support of thousands of spectators present to cheer him on.
It’s an incredible crowd to have, and I am very proud of my country and what they’re doing for F1 is massive.
