Sergio Pérez has been left perplexed following a poor qualifying for the 2018 Spanish Grand Prix, saying “the tyres behaved totally differently” between the first two qualifying sessions.
Pérez lapped almost four-tenths-of-a-second slower on his Q2 run to qualify fifteenth. The Mexican was out-qualified by team-mate Esteban Ocon by over four-tenths-of-a-second and the unfancied Alfa Romeo Sauber of Charles Leclerc.
“It was a disappointing qualifying session,” said Pérez. “Q1 was okay and the car and tyres were working well, but in Q2 we lost so much performance.
“It’s really odd because we used the same strategy as we did in Q1, but the tyres behaved totally differently.”
The specific problem, according to Pérez, was with getting heat into the tyres, an issue affecting a few teams in Spain, particularly Sahara Force India F1 Team.
“We could not switch them on and the car was sliding around, which is why my lap was four tenths slower than Q1,” Pérez added.
The poor qualifying effort comes just two weeks after Pérez scored a sensational podium in Baku. Now, the Mexican is hoping Force India can fight back in the race to score some championship points.
“I still hope we can fight back tomorrow and come away with some points.”
