Sergio Perez has blamed Red Bull’s tire strategy for his loss against his teammate Max Verstappen in Miami. The two drivers used an alternate set of tires, which proved to be the only difference between the two drivers, believes the Mexican driver.
Talking about this, the 33-year-old stated in the post-race interview that the tire strategy was what left him in a disadvantageous position against the defending champion. Perez said, “I think I have to analyze what went wrong today because I simply didn’t have the pace.”
📰: “I tried. I gave it all. The first stint was really poor at the beginning in that initial phase, and that compromised quite a lot our race. So, we didn’t have much of a difference on tyres, and Max did a good job so well deserved race from him.”
-Sergio Perez (after the… pic.twitter.com/UWaLWjJGyJ
— F1 Naija 🇳🇬 (@f1_naija) May 7, 2023
As per F1 Naija, the Mexican Red Bull star went on to add that he tried and gave it all to win the star-studded race. But his first stint was really poor at the beginning and hence he fell back. This deficit in the initial phase prove to be vital for Perez and there was no coming back to the race from there.
Perez started the race with the medium compound tire, but his teammate was with hard tires. Unfortunately for Perez, the hard gamble played off for Verstappen, which left the Mexican in a vulnerable position.
Sergio Perez hails Verstappen’s pace
The Dutchman was flying around the Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday. Coming back from P9, Verstappen reached P2 in just 15 laps.
The 33-year-old noticed the immense pace of his teammate’s RB-19 and hailed it in the post-race conference. He conveyed that his teammate was mighty fast, and it was a well-deserved race [win] for him.
Race 👏 Winning 👏 Move 👏@Max33Verstappen left it late to pounce on Checo and claim victory!#MiamiGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/rjPE1TFhzv
— Formula 1 (@F1) May 7, 2023
The Mexican seemed to have no answer to Verstappen’s pace when the lights went out in Miami. The two-time world champion came back from behind to secure his third victory of the season, extending his championship lead over Perez by 14 points.
Perez lost out on making history
The Mexican driver lost out on the chance to create history after he failed to fend off his teammate. As the Dutchman overtook him, he not only extended his championship lead but also denied the 33-year-old a chance to lead the table for the first time in his career.
If Perez would’ve won the Miami race, he would’ve been on top even if the Dutchman would have taken P2 and the fastest lap. The Red Bull driver would have been ahead on the number of wins against Verstappen.
However, it’s all gone now, as the former Racing Point pilot couldn’t use this golden opportunity to keep a firm grip on the championship. With that said, Max Verstappen seems to be pulling away to secure his third F1 world title.
