Is the spell broken for Perez? "Didn't feel he was going to make a mistake"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Sergio Perez has scored his first victory as a Red Bull Racing driver, and that seems to be the end of the story. The question now is whether the Mexican will be able to compete at the front of the grid every weekend, or was this a temporary flurry on a track which the Mexican scored two podiums for Force India.
Ideal second man for Red Bull
Perez was brought in by Red Bull Racing for the 2021 season after searching for a teammate alongside Max Verstappen. The Mexican should do what Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon failed to do, which is to stay close to Verstappen. Where Perez struggled in the first few races, he now looked like he was really in for it in Azerbaijan.
"It's a good trend, it's trending in the right direction. I think he is building strength and confidence and the team are doing so in him. It takes awhile to jump into a new car, a new team and find out how it works. It's a unique track in Baku, but I think we've seen flashes of his performance when he gets going in a race. He's not like some drivers who qualify well. Bottas qualifies well but doesn't perform as well in the race, whereas Perez goes better in the race," said Damon Hill in the F1 Nation Podcast.
Annoying Perez
"He was so solid when he had Hamilton right behind him for all those laps. I felt he had the whole thing under control, didn't feel he was going to make a mistake like a rookie. Perez has arrived and he's got that confidence," said Clarkson. It reminded Hill of 'irritating drivers' he himself has experienced in the past.
"Perez is one of those annoying drivers. I was stuck behind Jarno Trulli once at the A1 ring for an entire race. He didn't make a single mistake, I kept trying to get him to fumble but no. Perez was like that with Hamilton who was running out of ideas and on the radio all the time. Perez is experienced, clalm in the cockpit and in the race he is very strong," Hill added.