The Mexican describes his performance in Azerbaijan as one of the best of his career although he acknowledges that Cadillac is still far from the pace. He highlights his race management and the lack of top speed as the main burden of the American team.
Sergio Pérez has experienced a bittersweet weekend at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the Mexican Cadillac driver far from lamenting not having scored points, has preferred to highlight his own performance and describe the Baku event as "one of my best weekends" in Formula 1; a surprising statement for a driver who finished fourteenth but that reflects the personal satisfaction of having extracted the maximum from a car that, as of today, is very far from being competitive.
"I think it has been one of my best weekends, my best performance in Baku, and I've had some good ones here" Pérez declared, who at this circuit achieved victories in 2021 and 2023 with Red Bull. The Mexican was a protagonist in the free practice sessions, achieving his best records of the season but in qualifying he could not confirm those sensations and could only be twentieth, in addition to receiving a three-place penalty for impeding another driver.
In the race however Pérez demonstrated his experience and his management capacity, he managed to stay in contact with the midfield drivers throughout the first stint, taking advantage of the overtaking mode to defend himself from the Williams and the Audis: "I stayed the whole first stint with the Williams, with the Audis, helped by the overtaking mode but in the end we simply didn't have the speed on the straights, we are too slow on the straights" explained the Mexican, that lack of top speed is the main burden of the Cadillac, a car that drags a deficit of power and aerodynamic efficiency that condemns it to fight at the back of the grid.
Despite the difficulties, Pérez highlighted his performance in the race as an example of his driving level: "I'm quite happy with that I think I drove at a high level all weekend, especially in the race but we are simply one or two seconds off the pace to compete with the others" he stated.
The Mexican, who has 14 races without points with Cadillac, keeps his morale high and trusts that the team can improve in other areas to compensate for the limitations of the car: "I think unfortunately we don't have anything new for the car but I think operationally and pushing the team to improve and get the maximum out of the weekends, I think we are going in that direction. We just have to keep pushing much harder as a team and things will come" Pérez added.
The Mexican knows that the end of the season will be complicated but his objective is to lay the foundations for Cadillac to make a leap in quality in 2027. The debut season of the American team is being a constant learning process and performances like the one in Baku, although they do not translate into points, demonstrate that there are reasons for hope.
Pérez, with his experience and his leadership is a key piece in the construction of that future, his ability to motivate the team and his technical feedback will be decisive for Cadillac to be able to compete with guarantees in 2027.
