Sergio Perez: We need to improve for Suzuka

Sergio Perez believes it’s imperative that Sauber improve in time for the Japanese Grand Prix around Suzuka, after a disastrous weekend at Singapore. The Hinwil-based outfit struggled around the Marina Bay street circuit all weekend, and could achieve only one point after Mark Webber was issued a time penalty after the race.

After a tough qualifying session which saw Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez qualify a distant 17th and 14th respectively, the race proved to be yet another difficult day for the Swiss team. After the highs of the Italian Grand Prix, where Sergio Perez mastered his strategy to finish 2nd behind race winner Lewis Hamilton, the team were unquestionably brought back to earth with a bump after a weekend to forget around the streets of Singapore.

“For us this obviously was a difficult weekend.” Explained Sergio Perez, before Mark Webber’s penalty. “We were struggling a lot and we never had the pace. We tried everything including split race strategies but in the end points were not within reach today. I had some good battles but it was too difficult for me to overtake. We have to improve for the next race in Suzuka and I’m sure we will.”

The major achilles-heel for Sauber throughout the weekend was their visible lack of pace, which plagued the team greatly during qualifying when Kamui Kobayashi was eliminated along with the HRTs, Marussias and Caterhams after Q1. Their uncompetitiveness continued into the race, which saw Sauber remain locked in a tiresome midfield battle with the likes of Hulkenberg and Webber.

“The biggest problem during this weekend was our pace.” Confirmed Sauber’s Head of Track Engineering, Giampaolo Dall’Ara. “We were not as fast as we had expected. On top of this we were unlucky with the safety car. The cars on three stops could benefit from it, but Kamui had pitted just two laps earlier, and for Sergio, who was on two stops, it was at the worst possible moment. Overall it was a difficult weekend, and we now have to draw the right conclusions.”

Sauber will be striving to return to their usual competitive ways next time out at the Japanese Grand Prix, a circuit vastly different to Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit. Kamui Kobayashi in particular will be eager for a successful race, in front of his adoring Japanese fans.

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