Sergio Pérez praised Force India’s turnaround at the Austrian Grand Prix after he qualified in eighth place, recovering from practice struggles.
Pérez, who missed the first session due to Alfonso Celis Jr. receiving a run out, languished in 17th in FP2 and 18th in FP3, placing ahead of only the Sauber drivers on Saturday morning.
However, Pérez vaulted up the leaderboard during qualifying to secure a berth in Q3, setting the eighth best time, which will become seventh on the grid due to Lewis Hamilton’s penalty.
“I’m feeling happy with our performance today,” he said.
“I think it was one of my best qualifying sessions when you consider how difficult things have been leading up to the session.
“To end qualifying in eighth place shows the mega steps we have taken to improve the car.
“It’s been a huge effort by the whole team. I was a bit unlucky with the yellow flag at the end of the session because there was an opportunity to improve my time.
“I’m really looking forward to this race and I think we will be even stronger in race conditions.”
Force India team-mate Esteban Ocon will line up from ninth position but expressed frustration over his Q3 predicament.
“I am not completely happy with ninth place, given all that happened in the session, but it’s still a good starting position,” he said.
“My fastest lap in Q3 was set on used tyres, but the yellow flags meant I couldn’t finish my attempt on fresh tyres.
“I feel I could have been a couple of places higher up, but it’s the way racing goes sometimes – you have to take your chances when you can.
“We need to review if there is something we could have done better, but I am still feeling positive about the weekend.”
