George Russell was surprised with the pace of Sergio Perez in F1 Hungarian GP as both managed to recover good points after qualifying.
Both their races were undone in qualifying itself after they were knocked out in Q1 itself. Mercedes’ Russell made a strategic error to be knocked out, while Red Bull’s Perez made a driving error to crash out and increase the damage bill of the F1 team.
Thus began their recovery quest on Sunday in F1 Hungarian GP. Initially, Russell headed Perez in the opening stint. They both gradually progressed towards the Top 10 and eventually firmed their place with their natural pace advantage.
Red Bull then used a good strategy to put Perez ahead of Russell which is how they ended up in seventh and eighth. The Brit was left surprised by the Mexican’s pace considering his recent form. Even Toto Wolff had praise for the under pressure Mexican.
“His pace was surprising, it was good, I think following his recent form, we weren’t expecting to be in a fight with him but his pace was in-line with Max’s pace,” said Russell to media. “So, P7 and P8 for us, damage limitation from qualifying. That’s the sport, you make a mistake, you get punished.
“For me, the hard tyre was pretty rubbish, I think that compromised us slightly. Having the two hard, I said to the team that this was probably the least competitive weekends for the team, yes Lewis is on the podium which makes it five podiums in a row for us, we will take the positives from that.
“I think we need to understand the fluctuation on performance based on temperature,” summed up Russell, as Wolff added: “It is so difficult to overtake here, you can see that. I
think Checo actually drove a good race today. His performance was good.”
For Perez, it was a recovery drive that he needed amid pressure of losing his Red Bull seat. It is unclear if it enough but the Mexican drove a clean race and showed good pace as his teammate, who was in a battle of his own at the front.
“It was very tricky, as we expected, with these conditions and this track,” said Perez to media. “The first stint, starting on hard, it was a nightmare. We had no grip, I was behind George, he overtook me and I went off in Turn 2, so he overtook me and it was just a nightmare.
“Luckily, people started pitting out of the way and then we caught up a bit, but the first stint was very tricky. The second and third stints, we had some good pace, we managed to pass George, undercut him, and finish with the maximum we could have done. The maximum we could have achieved was seventh. I just have to take the positives.
“We had a very strong Friday, we had a strong race in terms of pace – the pace is there, so that is a positive. The rest, I am sure it will take care of itself. It is a matter of time. The most important is that the pace is there and I really hope that for Belgium, I can be back fighting for the podium.”
Overall, Perez was happy to have beaten Russell which showed he had the pace to fight for the podium. After the extensive damage, the car did not feel as good as it did on Friday but he credited Red Bull, who managed to undertake a fine repair job in just one night.
“We were lacking a few bits from the crash,” continued Perez. “The car wasn’t feeling fantastic. We had a bit of an offset so the car was not as solid as it was on Friday. I was positive in regards to the pace, very negative with my mistake. But head down, the season is long and the most important is the pace is there.
“As I said, the pace is there to fight at the front. We just need a clean weekend, to qualify high up, because we do have the pace, which is the most important thing,” summed up Perez, as team boss Christian Horner had praise for the Mexican for the grand prix, but insists that he has to deliver regularly.
“Sergio’s race actually, starting on the hard, he dropped behind Russell, and then as soon as he got a bit into clear air and after that first pit stop, look at his pace, it is actually very similar to the McLaren,” said Horner to media. “So he’s actually driven a good race. The strategy with Checo, actually getting the undercut on George and going a bit earlier at that point actually worked pretty well for him.
“So he had good pace. He made some good passes and hopefully he will have taken a lot of confidence out of that. That was probably Sergio’s strongest race since China, I would say. As I said, he should take some confidence out of today’s race. If he had qualified more in position, you could see he would have been in a much more competitive position.”
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