Sergio Perez was content with his qualifying performance at the Circuit de Catalunya, and will start the Spanish Grand Prix from ninth on the grid.
The Mexican racer believes there was still more time to find in his updated VJM09 in the final phase of qualifying, but revealed that he was far from disappointed to qualify ninth on a track traditionally not to his Sahara Force India team’s strengths.
After scoring his first points of the season last time out in Russia, Perez is looking to add more points to his tally this weekend, and believes should they have a good result it will be a just reward to his team for all the work they’ve put in to try and make the car competitive.
“I’m very happy to be starting ninth,” revealed Perez. “This track has traditionally been a difficult one for us, so to come here with our upgrade and make Q3 feels pretty good.
“I think there was the potential to be even faster on my Q3 lap, but I’m still happy with the result. I expect us to be strong in the race and we have a good track position, which is important on this track where it’s never easy to overtake.
“In the first stint, the cars starting just outside the top ten on fresh tyres will be a threat, but I am confident we can make a good start and stay ahead. Strategy will be important, as well as tyre management, but it’s not easy if you get involved in battles that take the life out of your tyres.
“If we can come away with a good number of points it will be a nice reward for the team’s hard work and effort recently.”
