Sergio Perez narrowly escapes a collision with Max Verstappen at the start of the Miami Grand Prix. The race was full of unexpected events for the Red Bull team. Despite showing promise and looking likely to secure a victory, they faced several issues during the session, resulting in their second defeat of the season. Perez performed well and managed to finish in fourth place after serving a penalty. However, his most notable achievement was avoiding a major crash at turn 1 of the race early on.
Following the race, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko shared his thoughts on Perez’s performance. The Mexican driver had a scare with Verstappen and another driver at turn 1 shortly after the start of the race. Marko admitted he was scared when this potential incident occurred on the track. It reminded him of a similar incident in 2023, when the 34-year-old driver crashed at turn 1 due to a careless mistake.
Marko breathed a sigh of relief when the potentially dangerous accident was avoided at the start of the race. It would have been a catastrophic situation similar to the historic ‘Waterloo’ battle if Perez had taken out Verstappen, who was on pole position. Additionally, Perez’s average start played a role in preventing the accident. Despite this, the 34-year-old driver defended well throughout the race and ended up finishing in fifth place. He was later promoted to fourth place after Carlos Sainz received a penalty post-race.
Max Verstappen was unable to secure a victory in the race due to damage to his chassis, and Perez did not make it to the podium. However, Marko acknowledged that Perez had a good race overall. He also mentioned that the points deficit was manageable. The 80-year-old advisor considered Perez ‘lucky’, as Sainz’s penalty pushed him down in the standings.
In addition to his defensive driving, Perez impressed with his performance during the race, finishing in the top 5. Lando Norris showed exceptional driving skills and managed to overtake the 34-year-old driver. However, Marko found it impressive how Perez defended against Norris for a significant period of time. Red Bull undoubtedly faced some issues during the race that prevented them from securing a victory.
Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Red Bull has already suffered two defeats. As a result, the Austrian team will need to focus on the development of their chassis. Rival teams have been steadily closing in and the competition is expected to intensify towards the end of the season.
