Red Bull's Sergio Perez says he's aiming for the very front of the grid in Saturday's qualifying session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The home hero capably joined the lead battle in Friday practice, finishing fourth in both the morning and afternoon sessions. With Red Bull seeming to have a slight edge on Mercedes in terms of outright pace, Perez says he's hoping to put aside some minor Friday issues to join the fight for pole position. Perez had a minor crash early in the day as he spun off and damaged his rear wing at Turn 16, recovering to get back out on track towards the end of FP1 and climb the order. "We didn't lose too much in the session," Perez told Sky Sports F1 when asked about his recovery. "It was a shame that we damaged the car and we put a bit of extra work on the boys but, other than that, it was a positive day." Not quite able to match teammate Max Verstappen's pace over a single lap, Perez was one of the consistently quickest while embarking on the longer runs and acknowledged this fact afterwards. "I'm feeling more comfortable over a long run than over one lap, so I think there is still potential to improve the car over one lap," he explained. "It's going to be very close with the Mercs tomorrow so, hopefully, we are able to lock out that front row." Asked about whether he thinks Mercedes have pace to find, he replied, "I think it's not a representative day. I think tomorrow will be even closer, everything, so it will be interesting to see." But Perez has only one position in mind for Saturday's qualifying session. While he might not be allowed to finish in front of Verstappen, depending on how the race plays out, there's nothing stopping him from aiming for pole position on Saturday: "That will be my target."
Most read
