F1 | Red Bull, Sergio Perez: “I am very happy to have contributed to winning the title”

Sergio Perez's race, and thus his season, ends undeservedly with a retirement. The Mexican, fourth at the start, immediately earned the podium at the start and placed himself in the grandstand, spectator of Max Verstappen's pursuit of Lewis Hamilton. The two enter the pits, and Checo takes the lead of the race. His task is to slow down Lewis and try to get his teammate as close as possible to his rival. They are two heart-pounding laps: the lion at Red Bull is certainly Max Verstappen, but Checo was no exception on the track. He forcefully regained the position on Hamilton, fought until the end, until he saw the other RB16B in the mirrors. In the end the Mexican, theoretically on the podium, was forced to withdraw his car a few laps from the end, enjoying the finale on the screens of the Red Bull garage, but the team work carried out by the Mexican this weekend is certainly commendable. Checo wasn't always on point during the season, but he worked hard for the team, earning the renewal sealed by a victory and five total podiums for him. The role of second is always uncomfortable, but Perez certainly played a big role in Max Verstappen's victory, showing all his abilities against a champion of the caliber of Lewis Hamilton.

"First of all, I am extremely happy for Max and this team, they have worked hard this year, but also in past seasons. Max really deserves this world championship, he drove at an incredible level. I'm very happy to have contributed to this result, he's a fantastic teammate and a great guy, I couldn't be happier for him – Checo immediately said – Lewis was controlling the race and Max was about 10s behind, I was more than happy to help him. My tires were really worn, I couldn't do more, but at least I managed to make Lewis lose a few seconds, changing the fate of the race. You never want to get in the way of the fight for the world championship, they have worked hard to get to this point, but this is my team, I did it for them and for Max. I think I could have finished in second position, looking at the events finals of the race, but I was forced to retire the car as it was not in very good shape and could have created another Safety Car. It's a shame that we weren't able to win the constructors' championship as well, but I'm really happy with our work during the season".