Sergio Perez targets win in Imola despite Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen taking pole

Verstappen bagged his first pole of the season after beating Charles Leclerc in the sprint race at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Perez is looking to take all points available at Sunday’s race (Getty Images)

Sergio Perez says he is targeting a win at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix on Sunday despite Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen having pole position.

The Dutchman secured his first grand prix pole of the season after beating Charles Leclerc in the sprint race at Imola but Perez, who starts in P3, won’t be letting Verstappen have all the fun and is gunning for the points.

“My target is to win tomorrow,” said Perez, speaking to Sky F1 after the race. “We had very good pace today and ideally a one-two would be great.

“We certainly have had good pace. It was important to make up the places we lost yesterday, so being third on the grid gives us good hope for tomorrow’s race.”

Multiple red flags interrupted qualifying on Friday and Perez says that meant Red Bull couldn’t display the pace they have in the car. Where they are on the grid on Sunday with the right conditions will see the team fight for positions, the Mexican driver added.

“I think we had the pace to be up there but we also had the pace all weekend,” Perez said. “But we didn’t put it together when it mattered with all those red flags. Now I think we are in pretty good condition and we should be strong.”

Verstappen initially let his first place slip with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc getting past him from the start. But the Dutchman overtook Leclerc on the penultimate lap to start at the front of the grid.

The defending champion said of his slow start: “I don’t know what happened at the start, it was just really bad. Initially it looked like Charles had a bit more pace but then he ran into trouble with the tyres.

“With other tyre compounds coming into place tomorrow, it might look a bit different.”