Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
After a stretch where his worthiness of being at Red Bull was questioned, Sergio Perez put together his best race since Miami in starting on the front row and leading 14 of the first 16 laps before finishing second behind teammate and championship leader Max Verstappen at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Perez led through the first pit stops, but Verstappen was closing quickly, and once the pass for the lead was made, Perez went into support mode.
“After he overtook, it was all about bringing it home for the team and managing the pace until the end, that was the main objective. I ended up slipping on turn 11 due to the tricky conditions so we wanted to then look after the car, manage the tyres and keep the position.”
After the race Perez chiefly emphasized the team effort, an effort which has resulted in either Perez or Verstappen winning every race going back to last season at Abu Dhabi, and Red Bull building up an astonishing 256 point lead in the constructors’ championship.
“Two podiums in a row now and our main objective is to continue to stay on the podium. We have the summer break to make sure we stay on top of things and have some time to reset. Max did a tremendous job and it overall was a great team result.”
The result also solidifies Perez’s runner-up position, now 40 points ahead of Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso and 41 points ahead of Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton. After being in a funk since Monaco—including a rough outing during the sprint session at Spa—the second place here on top of third at Hungary is a welcomed high note to go into the summer break on, with higher notes hopefully to come.
“I am looking forward to the summer break and going into the second half of the season to come back even stronger.”
