Perez expects ‘interesting’ Mexico City GP as he rues lack of ‘progression’ in qualifying

Sergio Perez is hopeful that “anything can happen” in the Mexico City Grand Prix after feeling disappointed by his progression during qualifying.

The Red Bull driver had the backing of his home crowd throughout the session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, with cheers regularly being heard across the stands as he took to the circuit.

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However, having eventually ended up in fifth place, Perez was left believing that more had been possible in terms of his development throughout the hour, which followed on from what proved to be a not-so-straight forward day’s running on Friday.

When asked for his thoughts on his qualifying after Q3 had concluded, Perez acknowledged that there were “very fine margins” out there.

“I think the progression that we had through qualifying wasn’t great, especially Q3,” he said. “We lost a third in Q2, we put an out lap on it and just the progression in Q3, I felt like it could have been quite a lot better.”

Perez is known for his skill at managing tyres, something that could prove useful at the high altitude track, and he remains positive about what he could potentially achieve on Sunday.

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“Tomorrow there is a long race ahead, so anything can really happen,” the six-time Grand Prix winner explained. “It will be an interesting one, and let’s see what we are able to do.”

Racing in front of his home crowd often seems to have proved successful for Perez, with the Mexican having scored a podium result in the last two races held at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

In terms of the 2023 season, Perez last claimed victory in Azerbaijan back in April and has been without a top three result since the Italian Grand Prix in September.

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He remains in P2 of the drivers’ championship, currently holding a 39-point advantage over Lewis Hamilton in third.