Sergio Pérez was happy with the result of the Styrian Grand Prix, even if he lost a place on the final lap to Lando Norris as he struggled home with a broken front wing.
After starting down in seventeenth position, the BWT Racing Point Formula One Team racer was one of the stars of the race, putting in a number of good overtakes to run fifth. He was able to catch up with Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Alexander Albon, but unfortunately with just a handful of laps remaining made contact with the Thai driver, which broke some of the elements of his wing.
This left him with a couple of laps to go to get to the chequered flag, and unfortunately this left him as a sitting duck when McLaren F1 Team’s Norris came charging up behind him on the final lap in between the final two turns, relegating the Mexican to sixth.
“The team did a fantastic job today: the strategy was good, and the car had strong pace,” said Pérez. “We managed to achieve our goal of recovering positions and managed to drive all the way to P5 – almost P4 at the end.
“I was pushing Alex Albon hard through the second stint and I only had the one opportunity to overtake him. Unfortunately, we touched, and I lost a position and finished in P6.”
Pérez was pleased that the performance of the RP20 was vastly improved this weekend compared to the first race of the season at the same circuit last week, with the Mexican finishing just ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll and Renault DP World F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo at the line.
“The important thing is that we made a good step from last weekend to this weekend at the same circuit,” said Pérez. “Considering the car is a new concept this year, we’ve shown that we are still learning and trying to understand it.
“I’m excited to go racing in Hungary next weekend.”
