[ad_1]
Publication date: October 11, 2020
Sergio Pérez, who qualifies ninth for the Eifel Grand Prix, feels that Racing Point “broke down” in qualifying by testing the medium tires in Q1.
With just one car in action on Saturday morning, the only practice session of the weekend after Friday being a wash, Racing Point was on the defensive heading for qualifying at the Nurburgring.
The team opted to send Perez on a set of medium tires but, with him falling further and further down the order, they had to send him again on a set of soft tires.
As qualifying progressed, he only had one set of new red tires left for Q3, which means he could only do one race.
They qualified ninth, behind both Renaults, the team Racing Point is fighting for fourth place in the championship.
“I think we got a little bit wrong with our strategy,” he told Sky, “we thought we had a little more pace and we tested the middle in Q1, which meant we lost basically a set for Q3.
“We only had one set in Q3 and I think the track changed a lot on that last run. The wind got up a lot so the balance was pretty bad and sadly I only had one set.
“I went through only one set of softs, so we could have done a little better in that regard.”
Get the official Racing Point 2020 collection through the Formula 1 store
https://twitter.com/RacingPointF1/status/131499053449517465
He added: “It does not look very good for tomorrow to have the two Renaults ahead, Ferrari, tomorrow may be a painful day in the championship.”
Pérez will join Nico Hulkenberg in Sunday’s 60-lap Eifel Grand Prix after Lance Stroll was withdrawn due to illness.
The Canadian did not get in the car on Saturday morning when Hulkenberg raced to the circuit, leaving Perez as the only Racing Point driver doing all the work.
Pérez, who missed two races after testing positive for Covid-19, has wished his teammate a speedy recovery.
“Everything changed very quickly with Lance not coming this morning, I could see some stress on the team,” he said.
“I didn’t know what was going on so I just hope Lance is okay and we can have him back soon.”
Racing Point has revealed that Stroll symptoms are not the “classic” symptoms of Covid-19 with the driver testing negative.
Instead, “he has a bit of an upset stomach. So he was in the bathroom the whole time. And he said ‘I just got rid of a lot of liquid and I can’t get out of the toilet long enough to get into a race car,’ ”said team boss Otmar Szafnauer.
Follow us on twitter @ Planet_F1 and like our Facebook page.
[ad_2]
