Extra motivation
The double second place achieved by Sergio Perez in Suzuka, first in qualifying and then in the race, confirmed the good form that the Mexican driver is experiencing, capable of reaching the finish line behind teammate Max Verstappen in three of the first four races, completing as many doubles for the Red Bull team.
Important results that arrive in a crucial moment for Checo's careerwith his contract expiring at the end of 2024. As if the prospect of renewal wasn't enough to motivate Perez, however, his team principal Christian Horner revealed a funny anecdote concerning a bet made with driver #11 in Japan.
“I bet with him, because his best performance in qualifying was a fourth position – Horner himself explained to journalists – Therefore I bet him that this time he would start from the front row“. The amount of the bet is unknown, but the Red Bull team principal admitted that the money at stake “it was enough”. Already on the radio, at the end of Q3 on Saturday, Perez and Horner had joked about Checo's 'winning', with the welcome 'interference' of Perez's track engineer, Hugh Bird.
In the end Bernie always wins
“Now you understand how to motivate me” Perez said jokingly to Horner, who ironically replied: “Haha, well, I always knew!“. “It's very nice of you to share [la vincita] with me and Woody [Richard Wood, il performance engineer di Perez],” Bird added at that point. “Absolutely, and with all the guys,” Perez commented.
In reality, however, after the race it was discovered that the money won by Perez could have ended up in the pockets of…Bernie Ecclestone. According to what Christian Horner said, in fact, Perez was in debt to Mr. E and used the money he won from the team principal to settle his debts.
“After winning the bet, [Perez] he told me he owed Bernie Ecclestone exactly the same amount of money – explained Horner, laughing – so he passed the bet money to Bernie, who was the real beneficiary of Checo's front row. So good old Bernie is still making money despite not even being here“, he concluded.
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