F1 | Red Bull, Perez maintains victory: “I'm proud of this performance”

Sergio Perez confirms himself as the king of the street circuits, but the shadows loom over his second victory of the season. The Mexican had said that he would try everything at the start to secure victory, and in fact his sprint at the start was better than Leclerc's. From there Checo's race continued uneventfully, and at the pit stop on lap thirty-five he mounted the slick without losing his position in the standings. What blemishes his race is the moment just before the Safety Car returns on the thirty-fifth lap: Perez does not maintain his distance from the Safety Car, taking more than ten cars away from Maylander's car in the central sector, in turn twelve. Race Direction reserves the right to examine the issue after the end of the race; the fact is that Leclerc, second, tries to take the victory and make up for the mistake at the start, but without success, finishing the race 6.6s behind the winner. Certainly, the FIA ​​should intervene in these cases, deciding on these issues before the checkered flag: undermining the victory after it has been won on the track is not as nice for the fans as it is for the sport in general.

In fact, the answer arrived almost three hours before the end of the race: a five-second penalty and a reprimand for Perez, who effectively maintained his victory.

"I'm so happy to have achieved this victory for me it's my team, it means a lot to me. I haven't been on the podium for a while, but I've always remained alert, behind the scenes ready to seize any opportunity. This is why I am very proud of today's performance – explained the Mexican – It was mentally tough, I was on alert for the whole race. The conditions were really complicated and many underestimate how difficult it is to ride in these conditions, the final sector was truly absurd. There were a few communication problems during the Safety Car, he went too fast in some places where I couldn't keep up with him, and then he slowed down when I could push instead. We were on slicks in the wet, trying to maintain temperatures was really difficult. When they told me about the investigation I pushed hard, those 15 laps seemed like qualifying laps, I was trying to open the gap to Leclerc".