Sergio Pérez ensured the continuation of his employment contract for next year.
Sergio Pérez practically secured the silver medal in the World Series in Brazil. PDO
The final climax of the Brazilian GP will go down in history.
Fernando Alonso had to give up at the start of the penultimate round. Hanging in the back Sergio Perez forced his way into turn one with the help of the DRS wing and turned his car in front of the Spaniard.
However, with his experience of 378 GPs, Alonso knew that there might not be a better place this season. He wanted to return Aston Martin to the podium.
– Checo probably pressured me for 30 laps already before that. I thought I missed out on the podium when he came by with two laps to go. But then he left his braking too late in turn one, so I thought I’d try again in turn four, Alonso cleared the situation To Mark Webber after the race.
The F1-nestor cleared past Red Bull and kept the raging bull behind him even in the final stretch of the two.
In the end, the difference between the front wings was 0.053 seconds.
– Unfortunately, he came through with extra energy once more. It’s always nice and fun at the races with Alonso. Today I lost, it’s that simple, Pérez confessed to Viaplay.
– I wasn’t sure how it turned out at the end. However, I saw the scoreboard and realized that we couldn’t pass anymore.
Two GP wins
For the Mexican, despite the defeat, the Brazilian GP represents a huge success. The failure in qualifying left him ninth on the starting grid, and rising from there to fourth in the race tasted good, because at the same time it decided the fate of the World Championship silver.
Mercedes suffered from engine overheating in São Paulo, and no Lewis Hamilton reached full speed at any point. Britti ended up eighth in the final results. From the point of view of the World Championship, it means that the difference between the drivers, which had narrowed to only 20 points, now widened to 32.
In addition, in F1 mathematics, the point difference is practically 33. Pérez has two GP victories this season (Saudi Arabia and Azerbaijan), which is why he would be ahead of Hamilton even in a theoretical tie.
With only two F1 races left (Las Vegas and Abu Dhabi), it is clear that Hamilton is no longer a threat to Pérez’s second place.
– The whole weekend was really good for us. Of course Friday was unlucky and without that we would have been higher on the grid.
Silver as a guarantee
A week ago at the home race in Mexico City, Pérez fooled himself into suspension right at the first corner of the race. Otherwise, the last few days have been minor victories. Red Bull’s sporting director Helmut Marko had stated that the World Cup silver is a threshold issue for Pérez’s job.
The story continues after the picture
Helmut Marko (left) confirmed Pérez’s continuation in the team. PDO
Despite its huge history of success, the energy drink giant has never taken a double win in the drivers’ World Championship.
Pérez knew as soon as he looked at the scoreboard at Interlagos that he was going to grab the silver with a bang. At the same time, Red Bull honors Pérez’s current contract, which also covers the 2024 F1 season.
– How many times do I have to repeat this? Checo has a contract from 2024, so it will also come true. Marko thundered to Sky Italia already on the eve of the Brazilian GP.
Of course, Red Bull has the right written in all its contracts to throw its drivers between its two F1 teams. But when Pérez now secures the first double victory in the team’s history in the Drivers’ World Series, he can no longer be dropped on the divar.