Sergio Perez has insisted he must have a strong weekend at the São Paulo Grand Prix after his "devastating" non-finish at home in Mexico last weekend. The Red Bull driver lost further ground to Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton in the race for second in F1's Drivers' standings after crashing out at the first corner at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a crushing blow for Perez in from of his adoring fanbase. Perez had been attempting a move to the outside of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc into Turn 1 when, with nowhere to go as Max Verstappen was on his inside, the Monégasque's front left wheel hit the RB19's rear right. It was a sorrowful end to what had been a weekend of improvement for Perez and with the gap between the Mexican and Hamilton now standing at 20 points heading into the Brazilian Sprint weekend, a weekend of strength is needed.
Full focus on F1 Drivers' standings
"Mexico was devastating for me but in this sport these things happen, and you can’t afford to keep going over what could have been," said Perez. "I wanted to win my home race more than anything but that is gone now and my full focus is on finishing second in the Championship. "We need to have a great weekend in Brazil and I feel confident in our ability to get results right now. "It felt like things were coming together last weekend with the direction we are taking, I am more comfortable in the car, the work the team and I have put in together is paying off in terms of set up and performance. "Brazil is a totally different challenge to Mexico but it’s always a fun track and we have two opportunities to score points this weekend, so while Sprint weekends are a challenge on set up, we want to maximise this chance all we can."
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