Sergio Pérez arrived at the finish line with a huge 27-second lead over the nearest pursuer. However, during the race he was not as lonely as Max Verstappen at the front. The Mexican also enjoyed the battle with Charles Leclerc and said he learned a lot about the Ferrari SF-23 single-seater while driving behind him.
Starting from the front row should have allowed Sergio Pérez to attack Max Verstappen, but instead he was overtaken by Charles Leclerc. At first glance, it seems that the Scuderia managed to fix the clutch problems that plagued not only it, but also the customer teams last year.
One way or another, Sergio Perez had to look at Charles Leclerc’s rear wing for thirteen laps. And it was not wasted time, he claims. “No, I actually learned a lot about their car,” the red bulls pilot revealed. “I watched what they were weak in, what their strengths were, or in which they are stronger than us.”
“So yeah, I have to keep it fresh in my head so I can talk to the engineers at the briefing later,” declared the Mexican after perhaps the best possible start to the year, at least from the point of view of his team.
The speed of the red bulls was so overwhelming that in the last stint they were ordered to reduce the power of the propulsion unit and ride the prescribed times. Even Max Verstappen had to submit. When he wanted to add, the engineer snapped at him.
Pérez states that his race was broken by the first lap when he fell behind Leclerc. “Yes, it really was. I lost to Charles in the first stint. Overtaking him was incredibly difficult. He had new tires and in the first stint you could see the difference.”
“As soon as I got a little closer to him and tried to attack, I started destroying my tires. I had to be very patient and cut my own way.” Finally he succeeded. “When it came out, I was able to drive fast laps. In the second stint, my tires were in better condition than him and I managed to get ahead.”
“It was too late,” you sighed Pérez. “I spent too many laps there, which pushed me far behind Max. After that we just kept our distance. We had no chance to fight for victory, but on Sunday it was a bad start. We have to analyze a lot of things, try to improve and work on consistency during the season.”
Red Bull sports advisor Helmut Marko declared before the start of the year that the new single-seater should suit both drivers better. Sergio Pérez will therefore not be able to complain that the team did not listen to him and tailored the settings to Verstappen, at least in the first few weeks.
After the race in Bahrain, he admits that he has no problems with the car. “I feel comfortable in the car, I am satisfied. I think we still have some work to do. However, we are both pushing development in the same direction, which is good. And yes, we had an amazing start to the season, the best ever. It’s a big difference compared to last year.”
