Perez: 'Think Ferrari and Mercedes will be back in contention at Zandvoort'

Where pole-sitter Carlos Sainz decided to start on softs, Perez was put on mediums. Ferrari were worried about the RB18's slipstream at the start so Sainz was put on rubber that was a notch softer. This should make it easier for him to hold off the Red Bull Racing driver on the first lap.

Poor start Perez

However, Perez failed to mount a real attack, presumably due to an issue with the clutch. "I think there was something with the clutch. As soon as I dropped, I just went straight into wheelspin and here it's very penalising, the tarmac is really rough at the start. I think normally here if you get a bad start it's probably one of the worst places to get it because the tarmac is so rough at the start," the 32-year-old said.

He quickly regained his second place when Hamilton crashed into Alonso, forcing Russell to swerve. "It was a very bad start, losing a lot of places. Luckily I managed to stay out of trouble and managed to get George by Turn 5.I couldn't get soon enough through Carlos. I was managing the tyre, starting on the Medium, it was probably a bit harder than expected on the deg, on the initial pace."

Perez expects Ferrari back in front

In the end, it became a dominant one-two for Red Bull Sunday in the Ardennes. The RB18 was unstoppable. "I think they got the car the fastest today. And especially Max was very impressive. The whole weekend, especially come the race, he was just on another level today. So that's great, great to have, you know, but I think it's very track specific. I think when we are back to Zandvoort we will have the Ferraris and Mercedes back into contention," he concludes.