Perez sympathises with Verstappen: 'We are unlucky'

Sergio Perez managed to secure a podium finish at the Australian Grand Prix. Partly due to the retirement of Max Verstappen, the Mexican grabbed the second position, keeping only Charles Leclerc ahead of him.

The Red Bull Racing driver experienced an excellent qualifying session, in which he captured the third starting position. During the race he fought with George Russell, among others, to get on the podium and won this battle. Verstappen then had to drop out with engine problems and Perez moved up to P2.

Perez looked back on the race with a satisfied feeling. "The start was a bit tricky and then Lewis overtook me. He had a very good turn 1 and then it was about getting him and then the SC. The first stint was poor in terms of deg. Then on the hard with the SC we lost two positions which we recovered later," Perez said.

At the same time, he sympathized with Verstappen. "It's a good result, but we lost Max. It would have been nice to have a double podium for the team but we have been unlucky in the first three races," said Perez, who enjoyed competing with Hamilton. "Always with Lewis it's very entertaining. Very hard racer but very fair."