Pérez on restart: 'I braked as late as I possible could and Hamilton did the same'

Sergio Pérez showed his worth to Red Bull Racing at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Whereas he struggled at the start of the season he is starting to feel better and better in his new car. Sunday afternoon's victory was the result of that.

The Mexican driver therefore sat satisfied at the press conference, although he also thought about his teammate Max Verstappen. "First of all, I have to say I’m very sorry for Max, because he did a tremendous race and deserved to win," Pérez began. "It would have been incredible to get the one-two for the team. But in the end it is a fantastic day for us. We were close to retire the car but luckily we managed to finish the race. It was quite difficult all the way to the end."

Pérez left Lewis Hamilton a long way behind. "He had strong pace throughout the race. I think we had a bit of a slow stop as well, so the overcut came a bit closer to him but he just pushed me from lap one onwards. I had the pressure from him pretty much since the beginning."

After Verstappen's crash, Hamilton looked to take the lead, but made a painful mistake. "Then at the restart, I had a poor start, so he was alongside me but I was like “I’m not going to miss it” you know. I braked as late as I possible could and he did the same but it didn’t work for him," Pérez said.