Sergio Perez, having suffered a serious accident in Monaco, was forced to pull out of the Canadian Grand Prix after experiencing dizziness during the weekend's first practice session. The Mexican is set to return at Valencia today.
What went wrong in Montreal? You said you were feeling ready, but then withdrew after the morning session on the Friday.
The doctors always thought we were too optimistic because it was a very big accident in Monaco. I've never had an accident like that before, but when it is so big, and it involves your head, you need time to recover. In Canada, I was feeling all right, but after the first session I was not feeling 100 per cent. I was feeling very dizzy when I changed direction and braked, so I decided to wait until I was 100 per cent right.
Is there is a risk that the dizziness could return today?
I'm not concerned at all. I am very positive - although I was the same in Montreal. Day by day, though, I feel a lot better. It has been nearly two weeks since Montreal, so I have had a good time to recover and be back in Valencia. No doubt, [today] is an important day, especially the first practice, to make sure everything is fine, but I am sure this is going to be a good weekend for me.
Tell us a about your preparations.
After a few days in hospital, you lose quite a lot of power, strength and condition, so I have done a lot of regeneration to start with and, step by step, I have got back to a very high level of training, back to the level I was at a month ago. I was in the simulator two days ago and was feeling perfectly fine, but, of course, everything changes once you are in the car.
Is your confidence back too?
Yes. If I feel 100 per cent in the car, I am sure I will be as fast as I was before Monaco.
How has it felt not to be involved in the past two races?
It has been really frustrating - especially two very good races. Looking at my teammate, and the way the races happened, I could have done a very good job.
Esteban Gutierrez, the Sauber reserve driver, was not in Montreal, despite your condition, and Pedro de la Rosa filled your seat. Did you feel sympathy for Esteban, as a fellow young Mexican driver trying to break into Formula One?
Of course, as a driver you always want to drive, but he has a had a very good career so far [in GP3 and GP2] and is a very good driver, but he is just not ready, and I think the team has made a good decision to bring him into Formula One step by step. [Team owner] Peter Sauber knows very well how to do this.
