“It Really Knocked My Confidence”: Sergio Perez Confesses ‘Torrid’ Australian GP Was Big Setback to Him Amidst His Championship Fight
Sergio Perez aims to run for the title in his third season with Red Bull. However, his Australian Grand Prix result was a big setback to him while his title-favorite teammate secured yet another win. And now Perez admits the blunder in Melbourne shattered confidence for a while.
The Mexican race driver was eliminated in the first round of the qualifying after skidding off on turn 3. Therefore, he had to start his race from P20 and couldn’t improve his position beyond P5.
The overall weekend was a big blow to Perez‘s championship contention. And the Red Bull star claims that he is rebuilding his confidence amidst the ongoing Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
“I think I’m getting back my confidence,” said Perez, according to RaceFans. “It really knocked my confidence quite a bit, if I’m honest, what happened in Melbourne.”
“Really bad, it was a terrible day!”
Sergio Perez offers his thoughts on a day to forget in Melbourne…😞 pic.twitter.com/hYzVzT5vcd
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) April 1, 2023
The three-week break helped Sergio Perez
The season gave a three-week-long unprecedented break due to the cancellation of the Chinese Grand Prix. And the 33-year-old thinks that it was important for him to regain some confidence by being away from the car.
He argues that while some of the flashbacks from his troublesome Australia outing do make an appearance, he now understands what went wrong that day. For him, that’s the biggest gain since then.
On any day, P5 isn’t a bad result. However, when you have the fastest car and one of the fastest drivers ever as your competition, you can’t afford such day-offs. Ask Charles Leclerc.
A good start in Azerbaijan
Compared to Australia, Perez is having a better weekend in Azerbaijan. On Friday, he finished P3 in the Q3 and secured the second-row start for Sunday. Coming to Saturday, he also brought in a P2 in the sprint shootout.
Therefore, he holds a good edge for the sprint race for the compressed F1 race. If he does better, then he can deduct the edge his teammate has over him in the standings.
Now it remains to be seen if Perez can continue his momentum with the week progressing further. If that happens, the entire competition could spice up between two teammates, which is often even more entertaining.
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