"I'm so lucky that we don't have 2 weekends off": Sergio Perez looks forward to holding off Lewis Hamilton in the battle for P2 in the championship

Red Bull driver Sergio Perez has stated that he was happy that there weren't two weekends off after his first-lap crash in his home race in Mexico. The weekend in Brazil will give him the opportunity to hold off the challenge from Lewis Hamilton.

The Mexican driver had a dismal race in Mexico last weekend as he crashed out on lap one after making contact with Charles Leclerc in his bid to take the lead of the race. His DNF also meant that Hamilton was just 20 points behind him in the driver's championship, and closing him in the battle for P2.

Sergio Perez told Sky Sports that he was thankful that there wasn't a big gap between the races in Mexico and Brazil.

"I'm so lucky that we don't have two weekends off. I'm happy to be back here and just put everything that happened in Mexico behind me. I have the pace to do that [keep second]," he said.

"I've just been extremely unlucky the last few weekends, so I think it's time to get a clean weekend and show what I can do because I think the pace in the last few weekends has been a lot better than the results we've been getting. I really feel that we've made a lot of progress so we should be back in form this weekend," Perez added.

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Max Verstappen gives his take on Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton's fight for P2

Max Verstappen stated that the battle for P2 between Sergio Perez and Lewis Hamilton was of no consequence to him but expressed his confidence in his Red Bull teammate.

The Dutchman said In his pre-race press conference:

"I think at the end of the day, I think that it shouldn't always matter on me, you know, to get the points, but I'm confident that in Checo, that you know, he can stay ahead, because I do think that, on average, you know, we have the faster car."

"And I think also last year, it wasn't really well spoken about before we got into the race weekend. But yeah, let's just hope that we don't get into that situation, I think is better for everyone," Verstappen added.

Given the advantage, RB19 holds over the grid will give Sergio Perez the best possible opportunity to keep his position against Lewis Hamilton in the last three races.

However, the seven-time world champion would hope that Mercedes's newfound pace after the big upgrade will be enough for him to overtake the Mexican driver.