Sergio Pérez: “It was a really tough race with a lot of damage at the beginning.”
Sergio Perez started 11th for the Sunday race and believed he deserved second place, but ultimately ended up on the third step of the podium in Las Vegas.
There will ultimately not have been a Red Bull double in Sin City, as Charles Leclerc snatched second place on the podium from Sergio Pérez after a strong race and a magnificent overtaking maneuver in turn 14 on the final lap.
“It was a really tough race with a lot of damage at the beginning, we broke the front wing so we had to go back to the end of the grid,” said Sergio Perez in the post-race interview with David Coulthard. “We had a good pace in this first stint, and with the safety car, it brought us back into the race.”
On the impossibility of defending against Leclerc, the Mexican declared, “I overtook Charles, but I couldn’t distance myself from him because I had too much rear aerodynamic support, so my straight-line speed was a bit reduced and I couldn’t escape.”
“It was quite difficult with the gusts of wind, the tail blocking, and then in the end with Charles, I didn’t expect him, he was 0.7 seconds behind – and then in the braking zone, he was there, so congratulations to him and Max,” concluded the Red Bull driver.
