Sergio Perez was thirsty in Austin
Sergio Perez has signed a new precious podium for his team. But it was far from simple for the Mexican.
He is gradually gaining momentum. While his start to the season was very discreet, with numerous outings, Sergio Perez is finding the key to how his Red Bull works. This is reflected in a fourth podium this season, the second in a row.
Ranked third on the grid, the Mexican wisely chose to brake at the fast corners after the start to avoid taking any risks in relation to his teammate, Max Verstappen, who was passed by Lewis Hamilton at the first corner.
If he quickly fell behind by five seconds from the two leading drivers, he nevertheless played a significant role during his first pit stop. By choosing to go for a second set of mediums, he forced Lewis Hamilton to pit only three laps after the other Red Bull. When we see the British driver’s comeback towards the end of the race, it is not unreasonable to think that he may have missed a few laps to truly challenge Max Verstappen.
But this second relay was very complicated for driver #11 as he was very thirsty in the heat of Texas: “I ran out of water from the first lap. In the middle of my second relay, it became very difficult for me.”
After finally completing his first tough stint, he dropped out of the fight since he finished his race 42 seconds behind the leader, without being overly threatened by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
With Valtteri Bottas’ underperformance (only sixth due to a new engine change), this allows Red Bull to regain 13 points over the weekend compared to Mercedes, to reduce the gap to 23 points.
Sergio Perez is therefore arriving for his home race full of confidence. If he were to achieve the hat-trick, the party on the podium in Mexico could go down in the annals of F1…
