Sergio Pérez

The Mexican had qualified on the front row at Imola, but his hopes of a good finish were wrecked by a spate of incidents in the tricky conditions.<br>He spun early on behind the safety car, and was then handed a 10-second stop/go penalty for overtaking rivals as he regained his original position.<br>Later on in the race after the red flag restart, he spun once again – dropping him well ...

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Having got knocked out in Q2 for the season opener in Bahrain, Perez made amends by out-qualifying teammate Max Verstappen at Imola to secure his best ever grid slot.<br>While Perez was hired to be a closer match to Verstappen, Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says the team never expected him to do so well so quickly after the difficulties he faced in Bahrain.<br>“Perez's improvement was ...

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In only his second event for Red Bull, Perez out-qualified teammate Max Verstappen and felt he actually lost pole at Imola to Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton with a mistake in the final corners of his last Q3 lap. <br>Perez had trailed Verstappen by 0.593s in FP3 – the only practice session both Red Bull drivers completed after the former collided with Esteban Ocon in FP1 and ...

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Perez bounced back from a difficult Friday that saw him crash into Esteban Ocon in FP1 and struggle to feature with the frontrunners in FP2 by qualifying second at Imola.<br>It marked Perez’s best-ever F1 qualifying result, beating his previous best starting position of third, as he fell just 0.035 seconds shy of pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton’s lap time.<br>But Perez believed he did have the pace ...

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Hamilton held on to take his 99th career pole despite not improving on his final flying lap, with his Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas qualifying down in eighth, one spot ahead of Lando Norris, who lost a time that would have put him third due to a track limits violation.<br>Both Mercedes cars and Verstappen will start the race on the advantageous medium tyres after successfully getting through ...

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The first session of running at Imola was blighted by technical issues that impacted both TV coverage, and radio and data communications between cars and their engineers on the pit wall.<br>The incident occurred at Turn 5 some 36 minutes into the session.<br>Alpine driver Ocon was on a slow lap and tried to move out of the way to let the fast approaching Red Bull of Perez go past him.<br><br>Read ...

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In recent seasons, Red Bull has selected contra-tyre strategy approaches in the middle phase of qualifying to try and gain an upper hand in race strategy versus Mercedes during the Black Arrows' years of dominance.<br>This approach helped Red Bull beat Mercedes in 2020's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix – where Max Verstappen used tyres that were a step harder compared to the Mercedes cars to gain an ...

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In Bahrain he struggled on the medium tyre in Q2 and started 11th, and then in the race he charged up to fifth after an engine issue on the formation lap saw him to start from the pitlane.<br>Red Bull motorsport boss Helmut Marko suggested that the Mexican was losing out to teammate Max Verstappen in a couple of places at Sakhir in qualifying, notably Turn 1.<br>“The negative is that I lose the ...

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Perez triggered an aborted start when his car shut off during the formation lap and he coasted to a halt.<br>With no power, the Mexican couldn’t communicate with his team, which sent repeated "radio check” messages that went unanswered.<br>Despite his relative unfamiliarity with the car and the Honda power unit systems Perez was able to restore power after taking the steering wheel off and ...

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While teammate Max Verstappen claimed pole at the Bahrain International Circuit, Perez will start Sunday's season opener from 11th on the grid.<br>Running on the slower medium tyres, the Mexican missed the cut by 0.035s to Aston Martin's Lance Stroll in a tightly-contested Q2 battle to reach the top 10.<br>Perez admitted he was disappointed by the manner his Red Bull career had begun, but is ...

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While Verstappen topped both the sessions on Friday, Perez was sixth quickest in the afternoon and 10th overall in the evening. Both times he was just more than six tenths off his Dutch teammate.<br>Reflecting on his first day of official Formula 1 weekend action for Red Bull, Perez said the timesheets had exposed the fact that he wasn't fully at one with the RB16B when it came to single-lap form ...

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The Mexican has replaced Alex Albon as Max Verstappen’s teammate this year, with Red Bull targeting a proper fight against Mercedes for the first time in the hybrid era.<br>And although Perez has only worked with his new squad for a few months, he has already noticed some key traits that have impressed him.<br>“The team is full of racers you know,” said Perez, who arrived at Red Bull after a ...

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Perez made his first public appearance with Red Bull during F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain last week following his winter switch from Racing Point.<br>The Mexican driver enjoyed one-and-a-half days behind the wheel of the Red Bull RB16B, giving him a more limited window than normal in which to get up to speed with a new team and a new car.<br>Teammate Max Verstappen finished testing with the ...

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Perez will make his debut for Red Bull next weekend after leaving Racing Point at the end of last year, marking his first team switch since 2014.<br>The Mexican starred through the 2020 season as he finished a career-best fourth in the drivers' championship, as well as taking his maiden F1 victory at the Sakhir Grand Prix.<br>Perez is the first driver Red Bull has signed for its senior team from ...

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Sunday morning's four-hour session was largely trouble-free, which allowed most teams to rack up a substantial number of laps at the Bahrain International Circuit.<br>Ferrari's Charles Leclerc fired off a 1m30.486 lap on mediums 20 minutes into the session, which set the tone for a busy start as teams tried to make the most of their last 2021 pre-season test day.<br>Most teams managed to complete ...

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Prior to the start of pre-season testing in Bahrain this week, the national government announced it would be offering both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to those attending both testing and the grand prix at the end of the month.<br>F1 said that it would be turning down the offer as an organisation, and expected teams to do similar, but a number of personnel opted to accept the vaccine ahead of ...

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Four-time F1 world champion Vettel has joined the rebranded Aston Martin team for 2021 following a difficult final season with Ferrari, replacing Perez.<br>Vettel finished a lowly 13th in the championship for Ferrari, scoring just one podium and barely one-third of teammate Charles Leclerc's points total.<br>Recurring errors by Vettel in recent years led to questions about how much Ferrari's cars ...

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The Mexican had faced the risk of being left on the F1 sidelines this year after his former Racing Point team elected to terminate his contract and replace him with Sebastian Vettel.<br>However, a strong finish to the 2020 campaign helped earn him a surprise call-up at Red Bull on a one-year deal to race alongside Max Verstappen.<br>Although he is aware that he may not have a long term future at ...

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Perez has sampled Red Bull F1 machinery for the first time this week, completing a run in the 2019-spec RB15 on Tuesday before completing a filming day shakedown in the new RB16B on Wednesday.<br>The Mexican has joined Red Bull on a one-year deal after leaving Racing Point at the end of last year, replacing Alexander Albon.<br>It marks Perez's first time racing for a front-running team since his ...

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F1 is currently evaluating the introduction of sprint races on the Saturday of three events this year, running a 100km race that would set the grid for the Sunday grand prix.<br>The plan received “broad support” from teams at the latest F1 Commission meeting, with further details currently being outlined by a working group.<br>Officials have identified races in Canada, Italy and Brazil as ...

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The Mexican has been signed as teammate to the Dutchman this year, after predecessor Alex Albon failed to live up to expectations last season.<br>While Verstappen’s most recent teammates – Albon and Pierre Gasly – both failed to hit their targets and keep their seats, Perez thinks he is much better placed to deal with the pressures. He believes lessons learned throughout his career – ...

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The Mexican had already spent a day at Silverstone testing a 2019 Red Bull RB15 car, before getting a first outing in the team’s new 2021 challenger.<br>Speaking about his early impressions, even though mileage was limited, Perez said he was encouraged by the first feel.<br>“I can see the potential,” he said after the test. “I was extremely pleased to come from the RB15 and already have a ...

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Following his winter switch from Racing Point, Sakhir Grand Prix winner Perez hit the track for the first time for Red Bull on Tuesday as part of his pre-season preparations.<br>Perez drove a 2019-spec Red Bull RB15 car during a private test at Silverstone before he samples the 2021 RB16B during a filming day shakedown on Wednesday.<br>Although Perez has been working hard with the Red Bull team at ...

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Red Bull has won races in six of the seven seasons since Mercedes replaced it as F1’s benchmark team at the start of the turbo hybrid era, but since Ricciardo left to join Renault at the end of 2018, only Verstappen has continued to take victories.<br>In the two seasons since Ricciardo’s departure, Alex Albon’s pair of podiums represent the only times Red Bull’s other driver has managed to ...

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Red Bull announced the signing of one-time grand prix winner Perez last month after opting to drop Alexander Albon following a difficult second season in F1.<br>Albon regularly struggled to match Verstappen's form, picking up just two podium finishes all season. Verstappen scored two wins and nine further podiums, accruing more than double Albon's points total.<br>Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton ...

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