Sergio Pérez achieved his qualifying result since the F1 Chinese Grand Prix in April.
The Red Bull driver finished third in the rain at Spa-Francorchamps on a set of used intermediate tires at the most critical moment of his contractual relationship with the team.
Pérez finished qualifying behind Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, but due to the 10-place grid penalty for his team mate, he will start from the front row with only the Ferrari driver ahead of him.
The RB20 proved to be an incredibly successful car in Belgium. Thanks to the car’s maximum downforce at high speeds, Friday in the dry and Saturday in the rain in qualifying, where there were more doubts about Red Bull’s chances.
With Verstappen in a league of his own, the war for the front row pitted Perez, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton against each other. McLaren strangely late.
The Ferrari driver makes the difference, but Pérez is 11 thousandths of a second behind Leclerc. The SF24 was faster on the straights, but Perez had an advantage in the fast and slow corners, as indicated by the more productive sectors of both driving forces and telemetry.
Pérez lost second position in qualifying and first position in the race at the Fagnes chicane, just before the end of sector 2.
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After dominating this entire stretch of the track, Pérez approached the slow corners with less confidence and it cost him a few thousandths of valuable time, which he later recovered thanks to Leclerc on the straight stretch of Sector 3.
Leclerc had a lower downforce setup, while Perez had a higher downforce setup to maximize gains in Sector 2.
It should be noted that Perez, unlike Leclerc and the rest of the “Big 4” drivers, did not have a second set of intermediate tyres on his first lap. The Mexican driver finished the entire Q3 with a set of used tires. , which also meant that it didn’t excel in the high- and low-speed corners compared to the Ferrari.
At a critical moment in his career, Pérez has once backed Max Verstappen’s most productive ally. By being ahead of McLaren and having a strong chance to fight for the lead in the early stages of the race, he will give the Dutchman and Red Bull some time. room to breathe for his return.
As we saw from Friday’s qualifying and long run simulation data, overall it was a positive weekend for Checo.
Now, in the race, he will have a golden opportunity for Helmut Marko and company not to think about replacing him with Daniel Ricciardo or Liam Lawson during the summer break.
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