Sergio Pérez stunned Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz in the first sprint of the season. They did not have the expertise of the Mexican, who took the spotlight for his way of overtaking the Spanish in the Chinese Formula One Grand Prix. The Mexican showed the mastery that years behind the wheel have given him to finish third in a modality that awards points to the first eight places.
The sprint, basically a shortened version of a normal race, with a distance of 100 kilometers, was incorporated into the premier category of motorsports with the intention of providing greater excitement to the race weekend. Pérez confirmed this idea with the maneuver he performed at the Shanghai International Circuit.
While the Dutchman Max Verstappen, his teammate, and the British Lewis Hamilton, were fighting a battle away from the rest of the peloton; Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Pérez and Charles Leclerc were in a fierce fight to gain a better position.
Right on lap 16 of the 19 scheduled, almost in the final stretch of the sprint, the Mexican took advantage of the space left by Alonso (Aston Martin) and Sainz (Ferrari).
At a time when the Spanish were in dispute for third place, a battle that was prolonged to one of the curves; The Mexican’s cunning worked in his favor to make a double pass.
There, the man from Guadalajara, while his rivals opened up on the track, attacked from the inside to escape and go from fifth position to third, where he later finished.
This result, prior to this Sunday’s race, in which Checo will start from sixth place, gives him six points in the drivers’ standings.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen won the sprint with 13 seconds ahead of his closest pursuer, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton.
#Max #Verstappen #Checo #Pérez #Chinese #sprint
– 2024-04-29 04:49:56
