Sergio Pérez will start the 2018 Monaco Grand Prix from ninth after an “intense” qualifying session.
Pérez describes his first two qualifying efforts as “perfect” but the Mexican lost the feeling with the car come the final Q3 session. Still, the Sahara Force India driver set his fastest time, a 1:12.154, to line up ninth on the grid.
“It was a very intense qualifying session and a good result for the team as a whole,” said Pérez. “I am really pleased with my job in Q1 and Q2: my laps there were perfect, possibly my best of the weekend.
“In Q3, I lost a bit the feeling with the car, but even then I was less than a tenth away from being sixth. It was such a small margin but it will make a big difference on the grid tomorrow.
“I’m still happy with how much we improved the car after free practice. Esteban did a fantastic job to qualify where he did and our pace gives me confidence for tomorrow.”
Pérez will start the race three place behind his team-mate Esteban Ocon, but the experienced Mexican knows that in Monaco, a clean race can make all the difference.
“The race is going to be long and a lot can happen. We have to see how the hypersoft tyres perform in the race, especially if the weather is hot. The most important this is to keep our race clean and see where we end up.”
