Sergio Perez is hopeful that planned updates that his Sahara Force India F1 Team will bring to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya will give him some extra performance, even if he feels the team have done an amazing job to sit fourth in the Constructors’ Championship after the first four races of 2017.
The Mexican has finished inside the points in all four races so far this year, and extended his amazing run of consecutive points finishes to fourteen races, but heads to the Spanish Grand Prix knowing they will need to perform in qualifying with overtaking extremely difficult, which makes coming from behind to score points a much more difficult affair.
Perez does not know what will happen this weekend, with the Spanish track likely to see updates and upgrades to all cars on the grid, which means making predictions of running orders extremely difficult to make.
“Barcelona is a track that really tests a Formula One car,” said Perez. “There are some quick corners that feel very special, such as turns three and nine, where you can appreciate the aero performance of these 2017 cars. It’s always a difficult track for overtaking and so there is extra emphasis on qualifying well.
“When you get to Europe, you feel that the season is in full flow. It’s race five – a quarter of the way through the season – and the year is flying by really quickly. I’m very proud of the team and what we have achieved so far. To be fourth in the championship as we arrive in Barcelona shows that we’ve done a really good job in the races so far. Russia was another example of a weekend where we maximised all the opportunities.
“It’s hard to know what to expect this weekend. I think all the teams will bring new things for their cars and it’s the same for us. We have planned updates, which will hopefully give us a bit more performance.”
