Perez reveals why he struck "lucky" with Hamilton restart error
Perez reveals why he struck "lucky" with Hamilton restart error
Sergio Perez has declared himself "lucky" to get away with a poor Azerbaijan Grand Prix restart after winning for the first time as a Red Bull driver.
The Mexican claimed the second victory of his F1 career on Sunday after avoiding Lewis Hamilton's out-of-control Mercedes to pick up the pieces following team-mate Max Verstappen's red-flag causing tyre failure in the dying stages of the race.
With Perez starting from pole, a two-lap dash to the finish followed, with Hamilton's error allowing the Mexican to hold on and jump to third in the drivers' standings.
But Perez has revealed that but for his own slow getaway off the line, he could have easily ended up colliding with Hamilton.
Asked what was on his mind for the second start, Perez said: "Well, basically that I had everything to lose.
"It was only two laps, I am on pole, it's our race to be lost. Just trying to do that perfect start and for many reasons, that didn't happen.
"In the end, we got lucky with it because who knows what would have happened if we had had a good start with Lewis having issues with his brakes.
"In the end, it all worked out but it just kept the tension on the fans and on us.
"I spoke with [F1 CEO] Stefano [Domenicali] after the race and told him 'You guys really like the show'? and he said 'Well, this is fantastic for the fans' and so on.
"It worked well for us but it obviously put a lot of stress just for two laps."
Red Bull can win championship
The victory came in only Perez's sixth race for Red Bull following a string of mixed performances as he has failed to put together a complete weekend.
But the 31-year-old insists the win validates the work he has put in since his switch after being released by Racing Point at the end of last season to make way for the arrival of Sebastian Vettel.
"I feel very proud," he added. "It is a victory that really shows the amount of work we have put in since the first of January.
"It just shows the hard work always pays off. It is a great boost for the whole team, to know we have two cars that can both fight and we can really win this championship."
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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