Perez on race: 'Hopefully that will pay off'

Sergio Perez is battling for first place in the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday afternoon. He may start from spot two, with Max Verstappen in pole position. This one-two for Red Bull meant a lot to Christian Horner. Perez did report that compromises were made, this had to do with changing setup for the race. Namely, the team switched from a qualifying setup to a race setup, this would make Red Bull more competitive.

"We have made some compromises. Hopefully it will pay off", Perez said in a press release.

The Mexican driver also reveals he is satisfied with his car: "I am more comfortable with the car the rear end of this car is a bit more planted, so I am able to work with it a little better so that’s a positive for me."

"I think Ferrari will be in the mix for the race, along with Aston Martin and Mercedes. We hadn’t seen this kind of pace from Ferrari until today, so I think they have been hiding quite a bit", Perez stated.

However, the Aston Martin does look good this year. Fernando Alonso is already standing out a lot this weekend, due to his good lap times in the free practice sessions. Unfortunately, these lap times could not give him a higher time in qualifying, so the Spanish driver has to settle for P5.

According to Perez, Red Bull will have to focus mainly on tyre wear, as tyre degradation is high. So for a good result, the teams will have to play it strategically smart on Sunday.