It was his big chance and Sergio Perez didn’t miss it. Starting from pole position, with teammate Max Verstappen only 15th on the grid, the Mexican knew he would be the spearhead of Red Bull in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and he was good at exploiting it to take his fifth career victory in Formula 1.
At the start he was surprised by Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin, but in the space of a few laps he managed to get in front and start to pull away. However, the safety car’s entry onto the track shuffled the cards again, above all because it allowed Verstappen to find himself fourth and back at the end of the train.
When the race resumed, however, Checo was very good at immediately building a gap while the Dutchman had to get rid of the Mercedes of George Russell and Alonso. A margin that he managed perfectly up to the checkered flag, under which he presented himself for the first time in his career as world leader. Joy that lasted a few seconds, however, before Max stole his fastest lap and the championship leadership.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Not bad anyway for Perez, who didn’t hide his joy when he was hotly interviewed by David Coulthard: “It was tougher than I expected. I had done a very good job in the first stint, but it seemed that the safety car wanted take away the victory. But this time I said no, this circuit owed me the victory since last year and in the end I did it”.
“The team did a fantastic job: we had several mechanical problems over the weekend, but they were always on point and managed to fix them. I’m really happy for the team and it’s really time to celebrate,” he added.
Regarding the non-optimal start, he continued: “We have to work on it a bit, because we’ve changed the procedure and therefore we have to review a little bit to try to start better in the future”.
When he realized he had lost the lead, he even made a small grimace, which, however, was followed by more positive words: “We will continue to push hard and the most important thing is that our car was the fastest on the track today. so I’m very happy with that.”
![Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19](https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/images/mgl/2eAvPma2/s8/fernando-alonso-aston-martin-a-1.jpg)
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR23, Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB19
Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images
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