“Thank god Perez had spinning wheels at the restart” – Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko believes luck was on Sergio Perez’s side in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku.
Sergio Perez recorded the first win of his Red Bull career in dramatic style in the recently-concluded Azerbaijan GP. The race had his teammate Max Verstappen crashing out with tyre failure, following which the Red Flag was called.
At the race restart, Lewis Hamilton – who was P2 then – suffered from a brake issue. Despite that, he managed to overtake race leader Perez but then saw his Mercedes go out of track, handing the lead back to Perez.
Helmut Marko believes Hamilton’s overtake was good for Perez, otherwise, he could have taken him out as well. All of this was due to Perez having a slower start, which allowed Hamilton to speed past.
“It was very great and very justified. Thank god Perez had spinning wheels at the restart. If he had got away better, Hamilton would have taken him out with him. Luck of the draw.”
Sergio Perez almost did not finish the Baku race
It was a crazy race, which saw two drivers, both championship contenders, conceding their race lead. First, it was Verstappen crashing out while leading, then Hamilton. It could easily have been a hattrick as a hydraulics issue meant Perez just about made it past the finish line.
“50-50. His car simply lost hydraulic fluid. It happened earlier in the race. When the car was stationary during the interruption, it kept dripping.
“He turned it off to be on the safe side. It’s impossible to say exactly when the failure would have occurred. At some point, he would no longer have had power steering. That would have triggered a chain reaction.”
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