Perez: This year’s season was difficult

In Las Vegas, Sergio Perez guaranteed himself second place in the individual competition – this is the best result of his career…

Q: In Vegas you stood on the podium for the ninth time this season, securing second place in the individual competition at the end of the season. Are you satisfied with how it went?
Sergio Perez: Not quite. The race proved difficult. In the first lap the car was damaged, the front wing was damaged. After that, all I thought about was how to fight back, how to finish ahead of Lewis and take second place in the individual competition.

After switching to Hard the pace was great and it really got me back into contention. Every lap I overtook my opponents, we were very fast. And when the safety car came out, there was a chance to fight for the win.

In the first laps I overtook Charles relatively easily, but could not get away from him. I think we set the rear wing to too much downforce, which meant I didn’t have enough straight-line speed and the rev limiter kicked in. As a result, after leading the race, I couldn’t get away from Charles, and then Max appeared from behind. Overall I made a good comeback, but it was a shame to lose position to Charles on the last lap.

Question: Are you happy with the car now?
Sergio Perez: Yes, in the last four or five races we have made significant progress. The pace was good, but for some reason he couldn’t show that all weekend. For example, we were unable to show the required speed in qualifying. We are moving in the right direction, although there is always room for improvement.

Question: What does second place in the individual competition mean to you?
Sergio Perez: This year’s season proved difficult for me. At first everything went very well, I was in contention for the title, but then, it seems in Barcelona, ​​I failed to set up the car. Everything got out of hand, confidence dropped. Then I managed to return to wrestling and show good results again. I think this is my most important achievement this season.

Q: Did anything at the Las Vegas circuit surprise you?
Sergio Perez: Very low grip on asphalt. I think it will always be that way because there are no support races in Vegas. It would be great if they showed up.