Perez struggled in Italy GP: "Basically my front-right disc was on fire"

Sergio Perez qualified fourth at the Italian Grand Prix, but due to a grid penalty he started the race in 13th place. The Mexican hoped to move up quickly. However, his car let him down, he tells Formula1.com.

Early in the race, Perez's car emitted a lot of smoke. While his team-mate Max Verstappen was able to move into the top three at lightning speed, Perez was forced to come in and rejoin the rear of the grid.

"Basically my front-right disc was on fire," Perez told Formula1.com. As a result, the driver went for a pit stop. "Then we spent a few laps with the front right disc on fire and then I had to bring it [the brake temperature] back down. So when I was on the hard [tyre], I had to massively manage the brakes to make sure that I could bring them back down."

Perez hoping to get past Hamilton

In the end Perez managed to solve the problem. In the closing stages of the race, he was on course to make things difficult for Lewis Hamilton and move into the top five, but a safety car put him on the track when Daniel Ricciardo's car stalled and he had to settle for P6.