Red Bull driver Sergio “Checo” Pérez ended up taking the runner-up spot of drivers in the Formula 1 World Championship thanks to the third place he obtained in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
In what was a “roller coaster” season in the Mexican’s performance, Pérez admitted that it was “a very hard year”. And the man from Guadalajara started off promising after winning two of the first GPs (Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan) and winning the Baku sprint race, but his teammate Max Verstappen began to take off in the points thanks to his superior control of the RB19 car.
“More than anything, stay focused on what we had to do. At Red Bull there is too much external noisewhich sometimes makes it very difficult to focus. There is media pressure that no team has,” Checo said in statements to DAZN after the race in Las Vegas.
“Beyond that, our crisis was real. After Barcelona I found myself with the most dominant car in history, but with set-up difficulties and mistrust grew on our side. The key to our season was staying focused on our work,” added the Mexican driver.
Between Monaco and Great Britain, the Mexican could not enter Q3 of the classification and only achieved third place in Austria and three podiums in four races between Hungary and Italy as his best result. The downturn came in Japan and Qatar, at which time Public opinion turned to criticism of the Mexican and his stay at Red Bull Racing began to be questioned despite having a contract until 2024.
“I think that after Barcelona, or in Barcelona, I found myself with a car that was the most dominant in history but it was very difficult to find the set-up, to be able to maximize it on the weekends, at the same time the other teams improved a lot. and distrust grew on our side”admitted the Mexican to DAZN.
“I think the key to this season was having stayed focused on our work, on what we had to change and that “It helped us to return today.”Perez added.
The pilot from Guadalajara thus adds 273 pointsand he was above the British Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), who has 232. Pérez has been in “The Great Circus” for thirteen seasons and this is his best classification in the drivers’ world championship, surpassing the third place in which he finished last season.
The Mexican debuted in F1 in 2011 and has raced for the Sauber, McLaren, Force India, Racing Point and Red Bull teams; totaling 260 Grand Prix, 35 podiums and six victories.
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