SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium — Sergio Perez has played down the significance of his return to the top three in qualifying at the Belgian Grand Prix, saying he had already started building more confidence in the car two races ago in Silverstone.

Perez set the third fastest time in qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps but will start the race from third after his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen dropped from pole to 11th due to an engine penalty.

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The result represents Perez’s best qualifying performance since the Chinese Grand Prix in April and follows to Q1 exits due to spins in Great Britain and Hungary.

In the past seven races, Verstappen has outscored Perez by 108 points, but Sunday’s Belgian Grand Prix presents an opportunity for Perez to regain some ground.

Asked if his confidence was building, Perez said: “I mean, it’s not like I forgot how to drive, you know, from five, six races ago.

“It’s just that you see it with a lot of drivers. Sometimes you’re not able to maximise the full potential of your car.

“And for that reason, you end up lacking that, let’s say, confidence to extract the maximum out of the car you have. I think we’ve been taking good step forwards in the right direction since Hungary. I think Silverstone was already quite good, I had a really good Friday.

“So I think the car is going in the right direction for now and hopefully tomorrow we are able to finish it off with a strong result. And still, there is a long way to go in the season.

“So yeah, just head down and I think like I’ve said before, you know, the team and myself are focusing on and what we’ve got to do. At the end of the day it’s getting the most points we possibly can and the rest couldn’t care less to be honest.”

Saturday’s result follows weeks of speculation about Perez’s future at Red Bull, with the team set to discuss his performance internally over the summer break.

He claims his position is not under threat and played down the significance of a solid result this weekend.

“From my point of view, it doesn’t change anything,” Perez said. “You know, I’ve always said it’s not where we are now, it’s how you ride the waves and where we finish [in the championship after the last race] in Abu Dhabi.

“I mean, there are a lot of drivers that haven’t been able to maximise their performance lately, but obviously, the scrutiny on my side has been quite a bit higher. It doesn’t change anything from my point of view.

“I think tomorrow is a new day, a new opportunity. It would have been the same if I was knocked out in Q2. Tomorrow is a new opportunity to do better. And it’s the way I see it.

“It’s tomorrow what really counts. And if I don’t have a good race tomorrow, I will try to have a good one in Zandvoort.

“It’s how it is, this is a sport and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes you have to fight and nothing goes in your direction, but I think it’s just the nature of the sport.”