Driver of the day Sergio Perez thought his Bahrain Grand Prix was over on the warm-up lap when his Red Bull RB16B seemed to lose power and crawled to a halt – but the Mexican got back on its feet and finished fifth despite having to start from the pit lane.
Perez, who finished last on lap 1 and won last year’s Sakhir Grand Prix at that location, made his way through the field from the pits to finish ahead of Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and score points on his debut for Red Bull . The Mexican, who received new control electronics and a new energy storage device before the race, admitted that he hadn’t expected to start the season opener after his car was on the track shortly before the lights went out.
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“I really don’t know what happened,” he said. “I was in the middle of the corner and everything went smoothly. I lost the engine, I lost the ignition, I thought this was it, and all of a sudden I heard Jonathan [Wheatley, Sporting Director] on the radio and i was like whoa
“The thing woke up and I turned on the engine and had to start from the pit lane. There is a lot of work ahead of us to be back where we want to be. The upside is that the pace was good today, so we’ll get there, ”he said.
Perez was kicked out of Q2 in qualifying for the Bahrain GP and regretted the missed track time in Q3
After retiring in Q2 on Saturday, Perez should start the race from eleventh on the grid with a mechanical problem. He said the fact that he finished the race was the biggest plus on Sunday after missing valuable races that he would have had in Q3.
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“Given how my race started, I think we can be satisfied,” he said. “The most important thing today that I was able to drive the race, you know? And yesterday I missed Q3. I missed a lot of kilometers so it wasn’t ideal.
“Today I did the race and I think I had a lot of understanding and a lot of data to work through with the engineers and there was a lot of work to do but we can see that things are going … better. Everything felt better in the race, so I’m happy with it. “
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Since Perez was pushed back at the start, team-mate Max Verstappen had to prevail against the two Mercedes in Bahrain and ultimately lost to winner Lewis Hamilton. Perez admitted that if the team is to tackle a formidable championship challenge, he needs to get to grips with the RB16B quickly.
“I just wanted to do it as soon as possible because the team needs me there and I have to be there,” he said. “It’s not like I’m here relaxing [and thinking that] it will come.
“I work hard, the engineers work hard with me and at some point it will click. And when that happens we will be very strong, ”he concluded.
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The post “I thought that was it” – Sergio Perez recovered in shock as he recovered to P5 after a car crash on the opening lap first appeared on monter-une-startup.
