Sergio Perezwho momentarily lost second place in the drivers’ championship for the 2024 season after finishing fifth in the Australian GP, declared that wants to “be on the podium again”, at press conference ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix which will be played this weekend.
The man from Guadalajara, who obtained second place in Bahrain and Saudi Arabiathe first two circuits of the season and which came fifth in Australia, accumulated 46 points and was momentarily overtaken in the standings by Charles Leclercwho has 47 units, both below Max Verstappen with 51.
“I’m already looking forward to the time to ride this week, because Japan is always a great race on the calendar; and this year we are going much earlier, which is going to make things interesting,” commented ‘Checo’, born 34 years ago in Guadalajara (Jalisco) and who last season was runner-up in the world.
“I love going to Tokyo before race week starts, Japanese food is one of my favorites, so I’ll make sure to enjoy this before I get to Suzuka and focus on the race. The races on this circuit are always exciting; and going downhill into the first corner is iconic in this sport; “It’s fun to get out of that area in the lead,” explained the best Mexican driver in history.
“The weather can have a clear influence on things there, with the rain that usually falls; and in this part of the year it seems that it could be the same, so we have to optimize what we can get out of the car to perfect the ‘set up’,” commented Checo, who has six victories in F1, in which he has climbed 37 times on the podium.
“Australia was not the best moment experienced by the team”recalled Pérez, who lost a place in the World Cup.
“It was a shame both the penalty we had (instead of starting third, he started from sixth on the grid), and the damage in the race; but we have overcome moments like these before. We want to return to the podium this weekend“concluded the brave pilot from Guadalajara.
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