Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
Sergio Perez will try to turn the corner after a disastrous home race in Mexico City last weekend. Starting fifth, the Red Bull driver—who has been on the hot seat much of the season as his performances have paled to teammate and re-crowned champion Max Verstappen—saw his race end at the first corner after an overly optimistic move for the lead saw him collide with Charles Leclerc and into the runoff.
Perez called the day “painful”, but added that “I realised that I gave it all. I was fighting for the lead and I took a gamble and it didn’t pay off. But I had to make sure I hold my head high because I gave it all through the weekend.”
“We are all racers and we all have passion, you know, because I think without passion you cannot do this job. And yeah, I mean, it was close to make it work, but I think there’s also something with this generation of cars that very quickly the car in the inside gets into your blind spot, very quickly. And there were a lot of factors that when you put them all together is what happens.”
Despite the misfortune, Perez, who still sits second in points—20 ahead of Lewis Hamilton but 251 behind Verstappen—has his team behind him. “Having[…] the team support is always very important because at the end of the day we are all in this together. And having all their support always helps. And also from people back home, from all the fans as well.”
His mindset for this weekend is one of renewal, calling São Paulo “a great opportunity for me to show how strong I am mentally and how can, I think, as an athlete you always have these sort of moments. But the most important thing is how you overcome them and how you recover from them.”
