• Australian Grand Prix

'It was tough ... we lack pace' admits Perez

Sergio Perez was on the back foot after dropping out in Q2 when making a tyre choice error on Sunday morning © Sutton Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• Report:
• Raikkonen takes measured victory in Melbourne
  

• Race:
• Australian Grand Prix

• Drivers:
• Sergio Perez

• Teams:
• McLaren

Sergio Perez said that 11th place was the best result he could have achieved in the Australian Grand Prix.

Perez was less than a second behind Romain Grosjean in the battle for the final point but ultimately missed out after starting the race in 15th place. Perez said that he was still pleased to have been able to get the full potential out of the car and said it's solely a lack of pace that kept him out of the top ten.

"It was tough," Perez said. "First of all to make the strategy to work was difficult. I think pretty much we maximised our result; we had a good start, we did a good strategy - the right strategy - but we don't have pace.

"I think we have some positives. We know that the car is not performing but we have the best team out there to come back. We need performance out of the car and it will take us some time. It's a shame that today we didn't score any points but hopefully for Malaysia we can be a lot better."

Asked what the weaknesses of the car are, Perez said there are a number of factors which were accentuated in Melbourne. "We're lacking downforce, we're lacking stability. It's not only one thing, I think we have got a lot of problems; the car is not quick enough and this is the reality.

"We have to be realistic and put our heads together. All of the team is so much together to get out of these difficult moments. We are 2.5 seconds off the pace at the moment and I hope that very soon we can be further ahead and start scoring good points because this circuit doesn't help our problems; it shows even more the problems of the car."

Looking ahead to Malaysia, Perez said he had bigger expectations.

"Definitely better than this, I expect the car to be better than this. We won't be fighting for the first position but I expect to be able to go in to Q3."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.