F1 News: Sergio Perez Reflects On Saudi Arabian Penalty - "Shame"

Sergio Perez is more than happy with Red Bull's performance this race weekend.

Sergio Perez, in conversation with David Coulthard following the race, expressed regret over a penalty that marred his otherwise strong performance in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, labelling it a "shame". This setback, however, didn't overshadow the significant strides made by Red Bull.

Key Takeaways:

• Sergio Perez discusses the setback of receiving a penalty during the race, though it did not significantly alter his race outcome.
• He details the race's challenges, including dealing with the safety car and managing tyre performance.
• Perez remains positive about the team's progress and the advancements since the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Red Bull Content Pool

During an insightful post-race interview with David Coulthard, Sergio Perez delved into the highs and lows of his campaign in Saudi Arabia. Despite clinching a commendable second place, behind teammate Max Verstappen, Perez's race was punctuated by challenges and a notable penalty.

"We definitely made some good progress. I just think it was a shame we qualified out of the front row because we had a great start. Unfortunately, Charles really kept it together and we couldn’t get through. It was a nice fight," Perez shared. 

The presence of the safety car and a subsequent long stint on hard tyres added layers of complexity to his race strategy. 

"And later on it was quite a compromised race with the safety car there so early, it was a very long stint on the hard tyres.

"It was tricky at times, especially in the beginning. We had no warm-up at all, we were sliding a lot and it took us a long time to get through Lewis and Lando.

"But overall it’s a great day for the team. It’s a very different track to Bahrain and we’re keeping strong, so we just have to keep this momentum going.

"I think we’ve taken a step forward from Bahrain, we’ve done good improvements from yesterday, so we still have some bits to tidy up and our time will come.

The conversation then turned to the contentious penalty Perez received.

 "It was a shame that we got that penalty. Luckily, it didn’t hurt our race, but in this scenario I was quite close to Max and everyone was coming in at the same time, we just didn’t have a wide enough pit lane." 

The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was eventful beyond Perez's penalty, with incidents and retirements impacting the race heavily.