Red Bull Racing’s Sergio Perez finished second in the F1 Round 4 Emilia Romagna GP final, dedicating a 1-2 finish to the team for the first time since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix.
Perez on the 3rd grid overtook Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) on the 1st lap and moved up to 2nd. At the time of the first pit stop, he allowed Leclerc to overcut and retreated once, but immediately regained his position.
Leclerc kept the difference with Perez within 2 seconds and looked for an opportunity, and on lap 50 he took an offensive move to change to soft tires. Perez reacts the next week. He also put on the soft and went back to the course.
Leclerc pushed to close the gap with Perez, but on the remaining 10 laps, Variante Alta (turns 14 and 15) ran on the curb and spun. This ensured Perez’s second podium and cruised the rest of the race.
It’s no wonder Leclerc makes a mistake
Sergio PerezFinal: 2nd, Grid: 3rd
It was a tough but fun race. It is most important to finish the race in this kind of condition. It’s not easy for him to make mistakes in these situations and his feet are easily scooped up, but it was very important that he was able to race cleanly and avoid troubles.
I was able to make a good start and restart decision, and the team’s strategy was excellent.
I was thinking regarding preserving the tires in the intermediate stint, but the degradation was still big and Charles was pretty fast at the end, so I’m glad I might keep it down.
The battle with Charles was pretty fierce. It’s always within the undercut range, and if I think I’ve managed to shake it off, I’ll be in the pit this time, so I think it was hard for each other.
Both of them were pushing with no heat in the tires, so to be fair to Charles, that was a situation where it was easy to make a mistake.
I think this result today is a big achievement for the team, as the difficult situation continued early in the season due to reliability issues and retirement.
In the 2022 F1 Round 4 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix final race held at the Imola Circuit on Sunday, April 24, Max Verstappen, who started from the pole position, gained a total of 22 wins and Sergio took second place. With Perez, Red Bull finished 1-2 for the first time in six years.
The next round, the Miami GP, set in the Miami International Autodrome, will begin with Free practice 1 on May 6th.
