Italian GP: Sergio Perez says Sauber's poor straightline speed costly
Sergio Perez is expecting a tough race at Monza for Sauber as the team has struggled for speed on the straights
Perez lines up 12th on the grid, four places behind team-mate Kamui Kobayashi, and is targeting points despite doubting that Sauber will have much of an advantage on tyre usage.
"We lose too much on the straights, far too much," Perez told AUTOSPORT. "Everyone is running low downforce and our low downforce is not so good.
"In the race, we will try to reverse the situation and Sunday is the most important day. The target is to be competitive.
"It will be tough to beat the competition by strategy because I think many will try the one stop."
Perez is confident that Sauber will be stronger at circuits with higher-speed corners later in the season.
He remains certain that the team can still contend for fifth in the constructors' championship despite Mercedes currently having a 32-point advantage.
"It [fifth in the constructors' championship] is very important so we will have to try and maximise the results here," said Perez. "It's another opportunity to do some good points.
"Tracks with high-speed corners, maybe Suzuka, will suit the car. And I think we can be more competitive in Singapore than here."
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Archive: When the French GP almost produced F1's greatest shock
Autosport 70: How Scheckter instigated Silverstone's most famous F1 incident
Why Haas's shocking 2019 should have F1 worried
Perez: Red Bull can be more resilient to graining after Melbourne
Sainz: Red Bull’s F1 advantage may be wiped away by Ferrari upgrades
The three factors behind Verstappen overturning Perez's real Suzuka advantage
Bottas: Permanent fix for Sauber F1 pitstop woes "by Imola"
Sauber F1 driver Zhou says early China-to-UK move was "a shock"
Why Sargeant was merely collateral in F1's fierce fight for sixth
How real-time scrutineering ensures fair and consistent competition in motorsport
How MotoGP brakes work: Secrets of stopping a 220mph bike
Hyundai enacts contingency plan after WRC Kenya fuel issue
Vanwall working on 2025 WEC comeback with heavily-revised Hypercar
Why F1 2026 worst case fears could be key to new rules success
How the F1 driver market situation sits for each team with 2025 openings
What's been going wrong for Leclerc in F1's tiny margins qualifying game
What the Chinese GP's highlights reveal about its first F1 race for five years
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments