Red Bull team manager's explanation to Perez proved decisive for restart

Sergio Perez was almost unable to start on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix after his RB16B stalled on the warm-up lap of the first race of the year. Perez has revealed how his team manager had given him some advice to get the car running again.

“In the middle of the corner, everything suddenly fell out,” Perez said as quoted by Motorsport-Total.com. The 31-year-old almost wanted to get out of his car, but then he suddenly had an inspiration. Team manager Wheatley had given him some tips in the preparation for 2021, which allowed Perez to get the car running again.

Communication with the team at the pit wall proved impossible because of the lost electricity also meant that messages over the messenger radio did not arrive at the other end of the line. "The radio was down. So we couldn't tell him to restart the engine. He did that for us," Paul Monaghan praised the Austrian racing team's new acquisition.

Perez scores good points

Perez had to start from the pit lane and worked his way up the grid. In the end, fifth place proved to be the maximum on his debut. "Thank God he had the presence of mind at that moment. He didn't lose motivation and fought his way through the field. It was a very good race with important points," said Monaghan.