The start of the season Sergio Perez it was exciting. He was placed ahead in the World Cup Max Verstappen and won the always difficult Monaco Grand Prix. Since then, andThe Mexican was diluted until he ran out of championship options and battling with your teammate. He now he has revealed when he felt that he had lost the duel with the Dutch.
‘Checo’ admitted to ‘Motorsport-Total.com’ that the Austrian GP was the first moment in which he saw himself out of the fight for the championship: “I think Austria was the turning point for my chances for the title. I got hit by George, we were up there in qualifying, we had the pace, but that was a big hit. From there we had a couple of races where it cost us a lot.”
In that race at the Red Bull Ring, Russell collided with Pérez and the Mexican was forced to retire, starting from there two races behind Verstappen in the World Championship, an already insurmountable distance that only increased in the following grand prix .
In addition, Pérez attributed the great difference in points to the fact that the development of the single-seater was directedor the Dutchman’s way of driving: “There are times when some improvements affect the handling of the car. We have seen it in other drivers and I think the way we developed the car was more towards Max’s side. But as a team we understood and I hope we can avoid these things in the future.”
However, for the Mexican the season is good and he admits that he has made some mistakes: “The lesson of this year is that we have had a great season. I still have to improve a bit, especially in the race. The relationship with the team and the car has improved in recent races, so we are on the right track.”
He also admitted the difficulty of overcoming a Max Verstappen who is performing at a very high level: “It’s a great challenge being his teammate, Max has driven at an incredible level. We have to learn, try to beat him and do things that he does, but it’s not easy, I don’t think there is anyone who can beat him directly. He is very strong within the team and has been here for a long time. However, I think every year I get a little closer. I’m going to try again next year and we’ll see what happens.”
