Stunned Perez hails best laps of F1 career
BAKU: Stunned Mexican Sergio Perez said he put in the best laps of his Formula One career to get Force India back on the podium on Sunday.
The 28-year-old finished third in a chaotic Azerbaijan Grand Prix for his best finish since he occupied the same place in the inaugural race at the Baku street circuit in 2016.
“I think today I did the best two laps of my whole career,” Perez declared after a rollercoaster afternoon that started when he was shunted from behind by Russian rookie Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams on the opening lap.
That left him with a broken front wing, after hitting Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen, and forced him to pit for immediate repairs.
Perez was also dealt a fivesecond penalty for a breach of safety car conditions and yet still came from the back to beat Ferrari’s title challenger Sebastian Vettel to the lowest step of the podium thanks to safety car interludes.
“The last two laps with Sebastian behind, with cold tyres, it was so difficult,” Perez said.
“I was on the supersoft tyre. I had to keep a very strong rhythm, trying to keep close to (Ferrari’s Kimi) Raikkonen, to make sure that Sebastian didn’t get close enough, and in the end we did a real...i’m speechless.”
Before Sunday, Force India, fourth overall last season, had scored one point and were languishing near the bottom with Williams.