Perez: A new opportunity to do even better and go for that win

On Saturday at a wet and tricky Spa-Francorchamps, the Perez of old emerged to deliver a solid performance, albeit six-tenths down on P1 at the top of the timing screens, namely his teammate Max Verstappen.

But Red Bull's World Champion has a planned ten-place grid penalty that will drop him down the order, which means Perez moves up to P2 alongside Charles Leclerc on the front row, the Ferrari driver's P2 became his 25th GP top spot start.

Visibility relieved in parc ferme after a tense, constantly wet session Perez recapped: "It was very tricky, at times. As always in these conditions, it’s so easy for it to go wrong, as it’s been going in the last few qualifyings in these conditions. It was good to finally put it together."

With only one set of fresh tyres for Q3, Perez had one shot at his lap while most rivals had an extra set: "We were a bit out of sync in Q2, so we were also quite lucky to make it P10. I think P2 is probably the best position you can wish for in Spa.

"It was the same with Charles last year, so I’m going to be trying to be the same. It’s a long race ahead of us. It looks like it’s going to be dry, so we’ll see. As I’ve always said, every weekend is a new opportunity to do better, every day. [Sunday] is a new opportunity for us to do even better than today and go for that win.

"We’ll see. It’s a very long race ahead of us. I think degradation will be quite tricky. Graining with this new tarmac. I think there are a lot of unknowns still. But I’ve got a good feeling, so we’ll see," added Perez.

The 34-year-old is under pressure to raise his game, amid talk he may be ditched by Red Bull before the season's end. The Stats F1 are not pretty for Perez, as teammate Verstappen tops the 2024 F1 Drivers' standings on 265 points after 13 Rounds. Checo is P7 on 124 points.