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Perez understands Leclerc: 'A mistake was made in no time'

Perez understands Leclerc: 'A mistake was made in no time'

24-04-2022 21:04 Last update: 22:17
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GPblog.com

Sergio Perez is getting better and better at Red Bull Racing. The Mexican also drove a fine race in Imola, eventually finishing second behind his teammate Max Verstappen.

Almost flawless

Already at the start, Perez shot past Charles Leclerc, with whom he ended up battling for almost the entire race. Except for a small excursion through the grass, Perez was faultless and could thus go to the podium. In a press release from his team, the veteran says: “It was a tough race but an enjoyable one. Rule number one in these conditions is to finish. It was difficult because in these conditions it is easy to make a mistake and put a foot wrong but we managed a clean race and kept out of trouble, which was pretty important."

Perez praised his team for the strategy. The Mexican went in, followed a lap later by Leclerc. True, the Ferrari driver returned to the track ahead of Perez, but the Red Bull man was able to pass him quickly with better warmed-up tires. "On the intermediates, I was really thinking to save the tyres but the degradation was high and Charles was really fast towards the end of that stint so I was happy to just keep him behind," Perez said.

Push

"The race was pretty intense with Charles, he was always within an undercut range and when we thought we had him under control he boxed and made things a lot harder for both of us. We were both pushing with cold tyres and, in fairness to Charles, it was easy to make mistakes."