Despite qualifying inside the top ten for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, Sergio Pérez was left disappointed as damage to the right-hand side of his car early in Q1 compromised him for the rest of the afternoon, leaving him unable to match team-mate Esteban Ocon in Q3 by the tune of 0.449 seconds.
The Racing Point Force India F1 Team racer had hoped for more in Qualifying at the Circuit of the Americas, but the damage to the car was severe enough that despite frantic efforts from the team, it could not be completely repaired before the end of the session, leaving him slightly compromised with the balance of the VJM11 on track.
Never-the-less, Pérez still managed to get into the top ten shootout and qualify tenth, with the Mexican aiming to make progress up the field on Sunday afternoon.
“Qualifying tenth is a disappointing result because we had the potential to achieve much more,” said Pérez. “My first attempt in Q1 was pretty good, but when I returned to the garage we inexplicably discovered a lot of damage to the right-hand side of my car, on the floor and bargeboards.
“We tried to fix it in the time we had, but we couldn’t repair it completely. From that moment on my car behaved differently and it hurt the balance. I struggled quite a bit in Q2 and Q3. The car definitely had potential, as Esteban demonstrated, so it’s a shame not to get more from today.
“Our aim tomorrow is to make up some ground. We have a car that can do it so let’s see what opportunities come our way.”
