F1 News: Sergio Perez Disappointed - 'Cost Us Quite a Bit'

Sergio Perez identifies strategic and tire management issues as critical factors in his third-place finish at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Following the Chinese Grand Prix, Sergio Perez expressed frustration over strategic complications and tire wear issues, impacting his performance. The Red Bull driver, despite securing a third-place finish, pointed out the race sagas that "cost us quite a bit."

At the Shanghai International Circuit, Formula One witnessed a thrilling contest which marked the sport's return after a prolonged absence since 2019. Max Verstappen from Red Bull clinched victory, continuing his dominant form. However, it was Sergio Perez, Verstappen's teammate, who was disappointed after finishing on the podium with Lando Norris splitting the Milton Keynes drivers in P2.

As the race unfolded, Verstappen took an early lead and appeared unchallenged, whereas Perez, who initially lost a position, faced an uphill battle back to the podium ranks. After overtaking Fernando Alonso in the early laps, Perez vaulted into the top three but was not able to secure second place, falling behind Lando Norris midway through the race.

The deployment of a Safety Car following Valtteri Bottas's engine failure and consequent incidents made strategy pivotal in this race. Perez outlined that the timing of the Safety Car “cost us quite a bit,” affecting his and the team’s race strategy profoundly. He said the following in the post-race interview with Nico Rosberg.

"It really cost us quite a bit unfortunately we got the Safety Car and lost two places.

"We did most of the lap on the hard and fighting like that in the early laps, the life of the tyre goes off dramatically but at least we got onto the podium. But it would have been good to be one and two.

"We were definitely lacking some pace, especially on the medium compound, we struggled a bit with the balance. 

"We changed a lot from yesterday to today, so we didn't read the conditions as perfectly as we could.

"But overall it was a strong weekend and we understand the reasons today why the race pace was a little down."