2023-05-03 08:15:08
Sergio Pérez is convinced: without his failed weekend in Melbourne, he would be at the top of the drivers’ championship.
At 33, Sergio Perez is having the best start to the season of his career in Formula 1, by far. The pilot Red Bull prevailed on the urban tracks of Jeddah and Baku, taking second place in Bahrain. Only a disastrous weekend in Melbourne, with multiple outings in testing before a nice climb from the back of the grid to fifth place, explains his six-point deficit on his teammate Max Verstappen au General classification.
Thus, Pérez believes in his title chances, and even suggests that he deserves to be the leader of the championship. “I believe that having three children at home, I would not travel the world if I did not believe I might be World Champion”says the Mexican to Sky Sports. “I’m working towards that goal, but as far as we can talk outside the car, it’s important to perform on track. I think without the problems we had in qualifying in Melbourne, I should be leading the championship, so I have every reason to believe that we can have the results this year.”
Pérez’s win at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was aided by a timely intervention from the safety car, which came as Verstappen had just made his pitstop, but the veteran still displayed a similar pace, if not slightly at times. superior to that of its leader. However, he had a scare on the 34th lap, author of a touch with the wall at the entrance of turn 15. It hit “very strong” according to the person concerned. “I was a bit lucky that the right front didn’t explode.”
Sergio Perez (Red Bull)
“ÇIt went really well for us today”added Perez. “We managed to stay in the DRS train and keep the pressure on Max. I think we had a better deterioration in this first stint, it was already looking good on that side. Then the safety car arrived and brought everyone together, so it was another race on hard tyres.”
“I think it was very tight between us. We attacked to the max, we both brushed once morest the wall a few times when we were attacking. Max really pushed me to the limit, but we managed to keep him under control .”
After some tensions last season, Pérez is in any case delighted with the “super” relationship he has with Verstappen. “Although not many people believe it, we are very similar. We have a life outside F1, and when we are at home we disconnect from it. When we come to the circuit, we try to do the best job possible, to fight each other…I’m sure Max is studying my data, I’m studying his data, and we’re pushing each other to the limit.”
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