Sergio Perez has announced he is aiming for victory at this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, as the Mexican driver prepares to start his final six races with the Sauber outfit. After recently being announced as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at McLaren, Perez is confident he and team-mate Kamui Kobayashi can be competitive around the Suzuka circuit.
Last season saw Sergio Perez perform another of his sensational drives through the field, after starting a lowly 17th. The Mexican driver was able to scythe through the field during the race and finish 8th, a trait which has this season greatly assisted his move to McLaren. This season has seen Sergio Perez become renowned for mastering the tyres and finishing competitively, despite several poor qualifying performances.
"I think it’s a really good circuit for our car." Explained Sergio Perez, ahead of this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix. "Last year we didn’t have such a good car as this year and still we managed to come from the back of the grid - we had a failure, a problem in qualifying in Q1, so we start really from 17th and managed to do a good race, a good strategy. So I’m looking forward a lot of fighting for the victory here. I think we’ve got a very strong car at this circuit."
Sergio Perez has come agonisingly close to victory on several occasions this season, most notably at the Malaysian Grand Prix earlier in the year. Although Sauber have enjoyed relatively competitive race results this season, qualifying has remained the teams achilles-heel. However, a competitive qualifying performance at Suzuka could well enable Sauber and Sergio Perez in particular the opportunity for an equally competitive race result.
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