“It would have been great to have a double podium on the team”- Sergio Perez expresses his dissapointment over Max Verstappen’s DNF at the 2022 Australian GP

Sergio Perez finished P2 at the Australian GP but admits he’s disappointed to not have Max Verstappen alongside him on the podium.  

Perez started the Australian GP on third but was outjumped by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton after the first corner. He did get his position back a few laps later, owing to the fact that Red Bull does have a better car than Mercedes this year.

However, their ‘better car’ may have come at a cost. At the opening race of the year, we saw both Red Bulls suffer DNFs towards the end of the race due to fuel pump issues.

On lap 39 on Sunday, Verstappen once again had to retire his car due to power-unit failure. It enraged the 2021 World Champ, who admitted that him defending his Title is out the question now.

“We’re already miles behind,” he said. “So I don’t even want to think about the championship fight at the moment. It’s more important to finish races.”

Perez on the other hand, put in a solid performance to finish P2. In the post-race interview, however, he said that he would have preferred to have his teammate alongside him.

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Sergio Perez laments over Red Bull’s poor luck in the opening rounds

After a double DNF in Bahrain, the Milton-Keynes outfit made major amends in Saudi Arabia. Verstappen won that race after an exciting battle with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, and people assumed that they were back and strong.

Sunday’s disappointment in Melbourne will be a major matter of concern within the team, whose main goal was to fight for the title this year. Another DNF for their star driver, has put him down to sixth in the Drivers’ Standings.

Perez looks back on his race as a memorable one but also acknowledges the severity of Verstappen’s absence in the podium celebrations.

“That was a bit tricky getting my position,” he said. “Lewis overtook me, he broke really late and had a really good turn one. Then after that it was about getting him then the virtual safety car.”