Perez: 'If I can get pole here, I can get pole anywhere'

Secretly, Sergio Perez surprised himself under the lights of Saudi Arabia. Not his teammate Max Verstappen, but himself conquered the pole for the second Grand Prix of the season. The perfect starting position for an undoubtedly tough race.

Demanding circuit

For 215 races Perez had to wait for it: his first pole position. Obviously, the Mexican was overjoyed, especially since he succeeded on a very demanding circuit for drivers. During the official press conference after qualifying Perez called the ultra-fast street circuit "like no other."

Immediately, he added ambitiously: "If I can get pole here, I can get pole anywhere in the world. So this is definitely the most demanding place to get the perfect lap, you know, the level of risk, the level of precision you’ve got to have around this place is just tremendous."

Pair of tenths

After the first runs in Q3, Perez was still third, behind both Ferrari's. In his all-deciding effort, the Mexican managed to pull off a few tenths gain. How did he manage that? "I think risk together with precision, you know, just nailing it on all the entries. But the level of risk was extremely high", Perez cited as the key to his sudden success.