Palmer: 'Perez matched Verstappen in pace, Red Bull can be happy with that'

Following his success at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Sergio Perez is a two-time Formula One race winner. His first win for Red Bull may have come at a cost in the form of Max Verstappen's DNF, but the Milton Keynes-based team can still count themselves lucky with their new acquisition, according to former driver Jolyon Palmer.

"Perez deserved this result", Palmer begins as a guest on the Chequered Flag podcast. "He got a bit of fortune, but he also had really good pace all weekend. Qualified only seventh which was disappointing because he was right up there in practice."

Palmer continued, arguing that Red Bull Racing can count themselves rich with the Mexican driver's current form: "It was kind of a faultless race for Perez, and what’s more encouraging is that he can match Verstappen on pace. Red Bull, moving forward, will be super encouraged with Perez."

Despite a slow pit stop, Perez and Red Bull managed to place an undercut on Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, capturing the 1-2. However, if Perez's engineers had been quicker, the driver could probably have challenged his teammate, Palmer believes: "If it weren’t for Perez's slow pitstop, he would have come out right behind his teammate and would have been a threat for Verstappen."