Perez impresses Red Bull Racing management: "Kept his cool".

F1 News

30 March 2021 at 13:46
Last update 30 March 2021 at 14:56
  • GPblog.com

Sergio Perez narrowly missed Q3 on Saturday and on the warm-up lap before the race his engine failed. But the Mexican kept his cool, and that was appreciated by his new team boss Christian Horner.

It was an eventful first race weekend for Perez as a Red Bull Racing driver. On the medium tyre he failed to reach Q3 and had to start from P11. An engine problem made things worse before the start of the race, and for a while it looked like he wouldn't race at all.

Ice-cold Perez

''Sergio kept his cool at those crucial moments. He gave a great performance and his experience paid off there. We had no communication with him when his car stalled, so he took responsibility himself. He shut down onboard systems and then restarted his car. That was one way to get the car going again,'' Horner said according to Speedweek.com.

Despite getting his car running again, he did have to start from the pit lane. ''The way he fought his way back to the front from behind was amazing. I'm delighted he was able to drive the whole race to learn more about the car. His overtaking was world class, as was his racing rhythm. The performance is now promising,'' concluded the Red Bull Racing team principal.