Sergio Perez promises another rear-of-the-field fightback in Racing Point send-off

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Perez promises another rear-of-the-field fightback in Racing Point send-off

But Perez will start from the back of the grid due to power unit penalties

Ewan Gale

Friday 11 December 2020 20:14

Sergio Perez has vowed to do all he can to pull off another rear-of-the-field comeback in his final race for Racing Point.

Perez, who leaves the team after seven years this weekend, will start at the back of the grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix as a penalty for his power unit requiring three components to be changed.

The Mexican, asked if he could conjure a repeat performance of last weekend's win when he claimed his first victory in Formula 1 with a comeback drive after a first-lap collision in the Sakhir GP that relegated him to last, replied: "Yeah, definitely.

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"We are looking forward to it and hopefully, we can make it happen. There is still so much playing on Sunday. The constructors' [championship] is important for us this Sunday so I will try my best to make it as high as possible into the points.

"I am quite happy with how things are. I think we have good directions, we have a good understanding of the [tyre] compounds.

"I can go to bed a bit more relaxed because we are not qualifying much tomorrow so we will see what we can do Sunday."

The penalty will likely see Perez run a reduced qualifying programme with the focus in final practice turned solely towards race day.

Perez lamented the penalty as he insists the team has the speed to challenge Red Bull for third on the grid on outright speed.

"The car is feeling good," he explained. "It is a big shame that I am going to be starting from the back because I think we have good potential for qualifying to fight for the podium again here.

"It is going to be tough, we are going to be starting from the back so our focus has been mainly on the long runs and trying to read the race as much as possible, what's going to happen.

"You only get to experience that in FP2 before the race. I think we have a good idea and hopefully, we get everything right to have a strong race on Sunday."