Force India's Perez "gave it everything" to score Baku podium
Force India stalwart Sergio Perez says he “had to give it everything” in Sunday’s Azerbaijan GP to prevent Sebastian Vettel from stealing the final spot on the Formula 1 podium.
Sergio Perez, Force India celebrates on the podium
Sutton Images
After picking up damage in an opening lap collision with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin and subsequently pit for a fresh nose, Perez staged a remarkable recovery drive to catapult himself to seventh position.
When the Red Bull duo dramatically crashed at the start of lap 40, not only did Perez get to ditch his old soft tyres for a fresh set of supersofts under safety car conditions, he also got to close in on the frontrunners
With Vettel locking up at turn 1 and incurring a flat spot, Perez took full advantage of German’s tyre issues to blast past him and take third place.
However, the Ferrari driver immediately fought back, with the Mexican having to go on the defensive to secure his and Force India’s first podium since the same venue two year ago.
“I was looking after my tyres because we only had supersofts left and warming them up was very difficult,” he said. “I was struggling and every corner was a lottery, but then I saw the cars in front of me were struggling too.
“I passed Seb [Vettel] but then he recovered and put pressure on me. I had to give it everything in the last two laps: my pace was unbelievable and I think they were the best two laps of my life.
“This podium means a lot to me, I am very pleased and proud for myself, my family, my team and Mexico.”
Perez was hit by a five-second time penalty for overtaking before the safety car line, but he served it under the second caution period without losing much time.
“Huge congratulations to Sergio and the entire team on a fantastic podium finish in Baku,” Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer said.
“We have been quick all weekend and it’s very satisfying to convert our potential into solid points. Sergio drove a remarkable race, recovering from damage on lap one to snatch the podium finish from Sebastian [Vettel] with just three laps to go.
“He did everything we asked of him and the strategy was spot on, even allowing us to recover from a five seconds penalty. This result is down to a tremendous team effort and feels all the more enjoyable after a difficult start to the season and some unlucky races.”
While Perez’s podium gave Force India plenty of reasons to celebrate, there was despair on one side of the garage after Esteban Ocon retired on the opening lap after colliding with Kimi Raikkonen.
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