Sergio Pérez was left disappointed with the result of the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday after trailing home in fourteenth, but he was left fighting for lowly positions thanks to his Qualifying performance that left him on the penultimate row of the grid.
The Sahara Force India F1 Team driver had started down in eighteenth position after losing out in the wet Qualifying session at the Hungaroring, and despite surviving first lap contact with Charles Leclerc as everyone exited turn one, he could not better fourteenth at the chequered flag, finishing just behind team-mate Esteban Ocon.
“It hasn’t been an ideal day for us, but we knew it was going to be a tough Sunday all along,” said Pérez. “We started from the back and chose to go with an aggressive strategy, but in the end we just didn’t have the pace to make it work.
“I had a good start but lost some places after touching with Leclerc and after that it was always going to be difficult to recover on a circuit where overtaking is very difficult.”
Pérez is glad that the mid-season break is now upon them, particularly after the last few months being draining on an off the track, especially with the Mexican’s actions putting his current team into administration last Friday.
He hopes the break will be good for everyone and when the season resumes at Spa-Francorchamps at the end of August, the off-track issues will have settled down.
“I am glad we have the summer break now,” reflected Pérez. “The last few months have been tough mentally but I’m still here and I’m in the top ten of the drivers’ championship.
“We will come back stronger after the holidays – all the off-track issues will have been settled down and we can come to Spa with the right approach and a stable environment around us.”
