Sergio Pérez returned to the podium positions by finishing third in the Sprint race of the São Paulo Formula 1 Grand Prix. Despite losing positions in the first lap, he managed to recover the place he held on the starting grid, but he didn’t have any arguments to keep up with the rivals ahead – Max Verstappen (Red Bull) and Lando Norris (McLaren).
The Mexican driver from Red Bull believes that with a stronger start, the outcome could have been different: ‘It is definitely a good result, but I would have liked to have a better start and to have been in the fight for first place. We had a terrible start and first lap, losing positions to both Mercedes, which meant that things didn’t go as we wanted, we had to attack hard and I had to use my tires early, so I ended up paying the price later in the race’.
Regarding Sunday’s GP race, Pérez aims for the podium, also being aware of the challenges he will face: ‘Everyone will learn from the Sprint, we expect a very high tire degradation, so everything will suffer, the engine, the brakes… it will all be about taking care of the tires, it will be a long race with a lot of competition, but the race pace of our car should be good and the podium is my goal’.
