For the second consecutive week Sergio “Checo” Pérez had a great performance at the helm of the RB20 to take second place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix even though he received a five-second penalty, an incident that the Mexican had no problem admitting was his fault.
This Saturday the Red Bull driver, who had just achieved second place in the Bahrain Grand Prix at the start of the 2024 Formula 1 season, He was involved in an incident upon leaving the pits in which he almost caused a collision with the Spanish Aston Martin driver..
For that action, “Checo” Pérez was punished with five seconds, a penalty that did not prevent the Mexican from giving a new driving demonstration after having started the test in third place and having left Charles Leclerc, of Ferrari, behind during the first part of the race.
“When I came out, it was actually my mistake, because the team had told me to wait, but I looked to the right and there was no one there when I looked. In retrospect, I think the penalty was correct and that compromised our race quite a bit.”commented the man born in Guadalajara according to Motorsport.
Sergio “Checo” Pérez He was escorting his teammate Max Verstappen who continues his undisputed dominance in F1, achieving first place in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. This weekend the distance between both drivers was just over 13 seconds.
“I was three seconds behind Max and I think the degradation in that middle stint looked pretty good, but unfortunately then we were compromised with a safety car so early and that meant basically everyone pitted.”recalled the Mexican.
For his part, the other protagonist of the incident for which Sergio “Checo” Pérez was sanctioned, the Spanish Fernando Alonso, was satisfied with the sanction although he acknowledged that it would not be enough if, unlike what happened on Saturday, there had been another outcome.
“When nothing happens it is very good and the penalty is more than enough. The problem is that if a more unfortunate situation happens, you crash or you have to remove the car, it seems to me that five seconds is not enough, right?said the Aston Martin driver who came fifth in Saudi Arabia.
“On this occasion we were lucky and both cars continued in the race so everything was fine”concluded the experienced driver who had a great performance this weekend, surpassing what he achieved during the Bahrain Grand Prix in which he finished in ninth place.
Keep reading:
– Christian Horner, director of Red Bull, issued a warning to Max Verstappen: “No one is bigger than the team”
– Oliver Bearman, the barely 18-year-old driver of the Ferrari team who stole the show at the Saudi Arabia GP by finishing seventh
– Jos Verstappen again charges against Christian Horner: “He has the support of the owner so I think he will continue in his position”