[ad_1]
Sergio Perez has revealed that he almost gave up hope of taking the Bahrain Grand Prix start when his car stopped on the formation lap.
In a remarkable change of fortune, the Red Bull driver was able to restart his car, start the race from the pit lane and reclaim a fifth place on his team debut.
Red Bull had already changed the power reserve and electrical circuits of Perez’s power unit earlier in the day after Honda identified a potential problem while inspecting data on its car.
Despite these precautions, Perez’s Red Bull stopped in the straight leading to the last corner of the formation lap.
“In the middle of the turn, everything stopped,” said Perez. He said he had “no idea” of the cause of the stoppage and was on the verge of giving up hope of starting the race when the team’s sporting director, Jonathan Wheatley, came to his radio.
“I was about to jump out of the car and suddenly I start to [hear] Jonathan. I just turned the car on and it continued, ”Perez said.
“It was [hard] get contact. I did not hear anything. I couldn’t hear the engineers, and then it receded, so it was good.
Announcement | Become a RaceFans supporter and
A first safety car helped Perez catch up with the field, change his used medium tires for a second set after five laps and start his charge. He briefly held third place as those around him clashed, and then for his final stint on the mids, he made his way from eighth to fifth.
He was relieved to finish a race that at one point seemed unlikely to start.
“I was happy just that we managed to get those kilometers under my belt,” he said. “Yesterday, the absence of Q3 really delayed our progress because thanks to qualifying, we can see that things are starting to click better. It’s such a shame that I didn’t maximize yesterday, but I think today things are starting to click a bit more turn-based.
Perez’s fastest lap in the race was second behind teammate Max Verstappen, until Valtteri Bottas made a late pit stop for new tires and clocked the fastest lap of the day. Newcomer Red Bull was encouraged by the pace he showed.
“I think it’s a bit positive, that the race pace is strong. But there is so much that still clicks. I think by the time it all comes together we’re going to be strong enough, but we just have to be strong and get the pace right. And then it should be pretty good.
Announcement | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2021 Bahrain Grand Prix
Browse all 2021 Bahrain Grand Prix articles
[ad_2]
Source link