Sergio Perez warns of "very messy" qualifying in Saudi traffic

Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Perez warns of "very messy" qualifying in Saudi traffic

Traffic raised several eyebrows during the two Friday practice sessions

Sam Hall

Saturday 4 December 2021 09:15

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Sergio Perez has warned of a potentially "very messy" qualifying session in Saudi Arabia after traffic caught out a number of drivers in Friday practice.

Across the first two sessions at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit there was no minimum lap time nor were there restrictions in place on where drivers could slow to create a gap.

Both issues were discussed in the drivers' briefing with FIA race director Michael Masi after several drivers, most notably Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton, came across near-stationary traffic around one of the many blind corners.

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Speaking before the meeting, Perez explained: "It's going to be tricky in qualifying with the traffic.

"We saw a bit with what happened when everyone was on the soft tyre at the end [of FP2]. It can get very tricky, very messy, very quickly.

"It's going to be very tricky [to find space in Q1] to get the perfect lap out there. But then I think in the race it is a long race ahead of us.

"Anything can happen so we just have to stay there."

Leclerc showed mistakes will be costly - Perez

With a lack of heavy braking zones and two of the three DRS zones on corners, overtaking is likely to be at a premium on Sunday, a fact that places increased significance on qualifying.

"It will be an interesting race. A lot of things can happen, as we saw with Charles [Leclerc]," added Perez, referring to the Ferrari driver's accident at the end of FP2.

"If you make a mistake it can be extremely costly so we have to stay there and be on it as much as possible."

Asked if the race simulation was a reflection of Red Bull's true pace in Jeddah, Perez added: "No, I don't think so.

"There is plenty more to come so hopefully we are able to find the right balance, the right pace to be in contention [in qualifying]."