Bernie Collins thinks under-pressure F1 driver got ‘pretty lucky’ at Belgian Grand Prix

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Bernie Collins thinks an under-pressure Formula 1 driver ‘actually’ got ‘pretty luck’ in qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix after getting away with one at Spa this Saturday.

Rain drenched the Ardennes as attentions turned to who would secure pole position for the Belgian GP. In the end, it was the driver who set the second-best time in qualifying who will inherit pole at Spa as Charles Leclerc benefits from Max Verstappen’s 10-place grid penalty.

Qualifying also saw Sergio Perez reach Q3 for only the third time in the past eight rounds. It has become a rarity to see the 34-year-old coax his Red Bull into the top-10 shootout of late. Esteban Ocon of Alpine and Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin also joined the big four teams.

Bernie Collins thinks Sergio Perez got ‘lucky’ in qualifying for the Belgian GP

But Sky Sports F1 pundit Collins thinks Perez ‘actually’ got ‘pretty lucky’ to get his Red Bull in Q3 at the Belgian GP. The Mexican only got a place in the top-10 shootout by 0.003 seconds to Alex Albon of Williams. He was also 0.636 seconds slower than his teammate Verstappen.

Verstappen set the pace early on for Q2 before watching the rest of the field fail to get close to his lap time. Perez, on the other hand, left Red Bull monitoring the progress of the likes of Albon, Pierre Gasly, Daniel Ricciardo and lastly Valtteri Bottas in fear of the Mexican slipping.

READ MORE: Five unforgettable Belgian GP from Schumacher vs Hakkinen to a 13 car crash

In the end, Perez progressed by the skin of the Red Bull star’s teeth to return to Q3 following back-to-back exits in Q1. The Mexican beached his RB20 in the gravel at Silverstone for P19 at the British GP. Perez also crashed in Q1 at the Hungarian GP to get P16 as pressure grows.

Helmut Marko admitted Red Bull will decide Perez’s future after the Belgian GP following his crash at the Hungaroring. Failing to reach Q3 in qualifying at Spa would not have helped the situation, either. But Collins feels Perez was ‘lucky’ to get into Q3, which he finished in third.

“While the rain was up and down, it was about setting the lap times right at the end,” Collins said on Sky Sports F1 (27/7, 15:42). “Perez crossed the line with quite a lot of the session to go but not enough in the tyres to do another push lap.

“That’s quite detrimental, as you can see by the lap times at the end. He was actually pretty lucky, really, to get away with that in the end.”

Sergio Perez is in the perfect spot to prove his worth to Red Bull at Spa

Even if Perez was ‘lucky’ to reach Q3, Red Bull will not mind how it happened just that it did with Verstappen dropping from P1 to P11 thanks to a grid penalty at the Belgian GP. The 26-year-old has taken on new power unit elements at Spa knowing that overtaking is possible.

Perez will now need to take advantage of any luck he can get in the Belgian GP on Sunday to show Red Bull he deserves a future in Milton Keynes. The Mexican should realistically be the team’s big hope for a win against pole-sitter Leclerc with Verstappen starting down the grid.

If anything, qualifying in third to start the Belgian Grand Prix from second place is better for Perez than had the Red Bull driver finished second to Verstappen, too. The Guadalajara-born driver could now make use of the slipstream along the Kemmel Straight to secure the lead.