Sergio Pérez faced a challenging race at Imola, managing to move up three places but ultimately driving a quiet one as he was a long way off the pace of the leaders. The Mexican driver acknowledged that the outcome was likely the best he could achieve under the circumstances.
“I think we sort of knew that was the best we could get,” Pérez reflected after the race.
“We obviously knew that the hard was going to be very difficult initially, but we were hoping for a safety car at the right point that potentially could put us back in the fight.”
Pérez, like his Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen, struggled significantly with the hard tyre. That included a mistake at turn 17 as he locked up, losing 5 seconds and sustaining damage.
“It was a very difficult first stint,” he explained.
“I think it was compromised a lot with the traffic initially, traffic at the end, and people coming through. I also had a lock-up going into Turn 17, so I went straight and lost quite a bit of time. I also picked up some damage.
“So, yes, just a very, very tough race.”
Despite his efforts, Pérez’s race was hampered by several issues, including the challenging tyre situation. He overtook Ricciardo, Hülkenberg and Tsunoda following his stop to climb to P8.
Following the Imola race, Pérez has dropped to third place in the drivers’ championship, with Charles Leclerc taking over the second spot by 6 points. Looking ahead, Pérez will be keen to make up for this setback at the Monaco Grand Prix next week.
As the season progresses, Pérez and Red Bull will undoubtedly be working hard to address the issues faced in Imola and come back stronger in the upcoming races.
