A defiant Sergio Perez has rubbished the idea that his Belgian Grand Prix qualifying result has rebuilt his confidence.
Perez's form has nosedived since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, and heading into Spa qualifying had suffered Q1 eliminations in five of the last six races.
His Red Bull future has been called into doubt, with Daniel Ricciardo and Liam Lawson understood to be testing to potentially replace the Mexican after the summer break, with Red Bull needed to secure its constructors' championship amid a renewed threat from McLaren.
At Spa, Perez qualified third fastest, but due to Max Verstappen's grid penalty, he will be promoted to second, just 0.011s behind pole-sitter Charles Leclerc.
Reflecting on his best qualifying result since the Chinese GP in April, Perez, who felt Red Bull's strategy left him vulnerable of an early exit after finishing a lap 'ahead' of rivals, remained defiant.
"It is more than confidence, I mean, it's not like I forgot how to drive from five or six races ago," he told media including RacingNews365.
"It's just that you see it with a lot of drivers. Sometimes you're not able to maximise the full potential of your car, and for that reason, you end up lacking that, let's say, confidence to extract the maximum out of the car you have.
"I think we've been making good steps forward in the right direction since Hungary, I think Silverstone was already quite good,
"I had a really good Friday [at Spa], so the car is going in the right direction for now and hopefully [in the race], we are able to finish it off with a strong result.
"There is a long way to go in the season, so it is just head down and like I've said before, the team and myself are focusing on what we’ve got to do.
"That is getting the most points we possibly can and the rest, I couldn't care less [about] to be honest."
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Perez remains defiant
Perez did not have a fresh set of intermediates for the final Q3 run at Spa, but was set for pole until Leclerc's last gap effort denied him.
It is a timely result for Perez given the speculation that talks between Red Bull bosses will take place after the weekend over his future given the nature of his under-performance.
But he insists that his full focus is on delivering in the 44-lap race.
"From my point of view, it doesn't change anything," he said of the qualifying result.
"'ve always said it's not where we are now, it's how you ride the waves and where we finish in Abu Dhabi.
"I mean, there are a lot of drivers that haven't been able to maximise their performance lately, but obviously, the scrutiny on my side has been quite a bit higher. It doesn't change anything from my point of view.
"I think [the race] is a new day, a new opportunity. It would have been the same if I was knocked out in Q2. It is a new opportunity to do better.
"The way I see it, the race is what really counts, and if I don't have a good race, I will try to have a good one in Zandvoort.
"It's how it is, this is a sport and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes you have to fight and nothing goes in your direction, but I think it's just the nature of the sport."
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