John N
Sergio Perez hailed Red Bull’s “great momentum” after securing their second one-two of the season in the Spanish Grand Prix. Though he admitted being asked to move aside and let teammate Max Verstappen through for victory left him with questions that needed answering.
The Mexican driver made his way up from sixth to first when the titleholder and race leader slipped off at Turn 4, Perez going longer than his teammate in the first stop and joining George Russell in third place on Lap 25. Only on Lap 31 did Perez get his chance to lead the race, but he did so only for eleven laps before being told to let Verstappen back ahead.
The Dutchman won by 13 seconds. If given the opportunity, said Perez: “Yes, I think so, especially when I gave the position to Max thinking I would get it back later. But then we swapped strategies – he went for a three-stop strategy, I went for a two-stop strategy.”
“It’s difficult to digest, but it turns out that the three-stop was a better strategy, and I think I didn’t have a very optimized two-stop.
A smooth move by Checo 👌
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“It was a bit frustrating from my side, but at the end of the day, it’s a great team result, we are now leading the constructors’ so that’s something I am very pleased with.”
“It’s difficult to digest, but it turns out that the three-stop was a better strategy, and I think I didn’t have a very optimized two-stop. “It was a bit frustrating from my side, but at the end of the day, it’s a great team result, we are now leading the constructors’ so that’s something I am very pleased with.”
Perez did, however, get the fastest lap (after a late decision to stop for softs) and back up another Red Bull one-two, the team now leading the constructors’ championship by 26 points. Verstappen leads Charles Leclerc in the drivers’ championship by six points.
Ahead of Monaco, Perez added that he would “discuss” the matter of team orders. “There are a few things we’ll discuss internally, to understand what went on, as when you are driving, you don’t understand much of the bigger picture, you know, so I think it’s just a normal thing.
The team momentum couldn’t be any better, so it’s a great team, we are very united, and we have to discuss a few things internally, that’s it.”
