Sergio Perez admits mistake at the start cost him a chance at victory

Sergio Perez drove a calm and collected race to finish P2 in Bahrain, as Red Bull turn around their fortunes from last year with a 1-2 to start off 2023, as teammate Max Verstappen won the first race of the season.

Great start to the season

Given the nightmare that Red Bull had in 2022 at the GP here in Bahrain, Perez is delighted to have a 1-2, "It's a great start, when we look back and last year and how we started it's really nice. We haved worked really hard over the winter"

The importance on starting a season well isn't lost on the Mexican either, "It's great to see all the boys enjoying the first race. We have a strong package. It was important to geet both cars to the end."

Start of the race cost Perez

"The start put me out of race contention" admitted the Red Bull driver as despite lining up P2, he was overtaken by Leclerc at the first corner, Perez then continued "it was all about minimising the damage, finishing second was the best I could do.", the 33 year old does feel that he is "getting closer (to Max) every single session"