The Mexican driver Sergio ‘Checo’ Pérez (Red Bull) assured, after falling today to sixth place in the sprint race classification of the Chinese Grand Prixthat his departure from the track in the last corner was due to ‘aquaplaning’ and sang the ‘mea culpa’.
“We were fast, setting very good times at the start. Unfortunately we couldn’t have that progression, we encountered traffic on our second lap and in the Third try I went straight; It’s a shame, these are the conditions.” stated the driver in statements to FOX Sports.
‘Checo’ asserted that he was going “better and better” after a “good first round,” with the tires warming up, but on the last lap, going “very well”, he left the track due to the effect of the rain, which marked the final phase of the classification for the reduced race that will be held tomorrow morning.
“A mistake entirely mine that we hope to recover in the sprint race to score some points,” he lamented.
The Mexican’s teammate, the Dutch Max Verstappen – current world champion and current leader of the general classification -, He was also affected by the rain and finished in fourth position, behind Lando Norris (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin).
“I think we had better pace to have been higher in the standings. The positive thing is that we have been competitive in any conditions; “We were there in the rain,” Pérez reflected.who had been the fastest in the first qualifying round (SQ1), ahead of Norris.
Max Verstappen reveals that it was difficult to drive because of the rain
The Dutch driver Max Verstappen assured that it was “very difficult to keep the car on the track,” during this Friday’s sprint shootout of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix, which was marked by rain.
After getting fourth place, after leaving the asphalt on two occasions, he confessed that he deserved to be in that position and that “it was like driving on ice.”
This classification is the first of the entire year in which Verstappen is not the fastest and in which he will be behind Lando Norris, who took first position, and Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, who will start as second and third, respectively.
“It didn’t work for me in the wet, although I think the car was quite good in the dry and I was quite happy,” added the Red Bull driver.
Keep reading:
– Pato O’Ward’s opinion about Checo Pérez: “He is against the best drivers in history”
– Will you replace Checo Pérez? At Red Bull they confirm that there are talks to incorporate Carlos Sainz into the team