Amidst the blinding lights of the world-famous strip, Formula One made its return to Las Vegas this weekend after four long decades.
Sergio Perez stole a share of the race-day spotlight for Red Bull Racing, adding important points to Red Bull’s tally with his finish in P3.
Despite a poor Saturday qualifying, with Perez missing out on Q3 and starting the race from P11, the Mexican driver’s problems only continued as he found himself tangled with Valtteri Bottas in the opening lap, leading to an unscheduled pit stop. Despite this, Perez strategically made his way through the field.
“My race started really poorly with the incident in Turn 1, damaging my front wing.”
A well-timed safety car changed the course of the race, and Perez found himself in a fortunate position as he worked his way through the pack to be P2.
However, the unpredictable nature of street circuits, alongside some gusty winds, created challenges on track.
“It was so easy to make mistakes because the grip was so low… I ended up doing some mistakes that were just so difficult to keep it on track.”
From the initial setback to his mid-race comeback, Perez’s race reached its peak when he found himself duelling with Leclerc. He initially took the lead but lost out again as the Monegasque driver and teammate Verstappen both got by thanks to their skinnier rear wings.
“We had really strong pace on that first stint, so we put ourselves back in contention.
“I overtook Charles, but I couldn’t pull away from him… I was just carrying a little bit too much wing on my car, so my straight-line speed was a little bit down. I just couldn’t pull away from him.”
Perez noted the similarities between the Las Vegas circuit and Baku, claiming that the circuit’s long straights and DRS zones meant that being in the lead can present a major problem if you can’t create a space with the car behind.
At the chequered flag, teammate Max Verstappen claimed his 18th win of the 2023 season whilst Charles Leclerc performed a stunning last-minute overtake, securing P2 ahead of Perez.
The Mexican had got the place back after a lock-up into turn 12 by the Ferrari driver, but Leclerc managed to get back into DRS and get it done.
Perez recounted the final lap of the race, claiming that he was surprised to see Leclerc overtaking him, but was overall grateful to secure a 1-2 in the drivers’ standings.
“I wasn’t expecting him. He was 0.7s (behind) but then in the braking zone, he was there, so well done to him.
“Since Monaco, it’s been a lot of ups and downs,” Perez admitted, “I’ve been struggling a lot with the car, but I think as a team, we managed to stay together and come through those difficult moments strongly.
“I think we’ve learned so much that we certainly are a stronger team and it’s good that we are finishing the season on a top note.”
Despite teammate Verstappen’s initial gripes with the track, Perez noted that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was all in all, “good for racing.”
As the teams gear up for the final race of the season in Abu Dhabi, Red Bull maintains their dominance, with both drivers at the top of the drivers’ championship standings and grabbing a historical 1-2 finish in the driver’s rankings for the team.
