SINGAPORE: Red Bull’s Sergio Perez came out victorious at Singapore Grand Prix in one of the most difficult races on the calendar as Max Verstappen’s Formula One title celebrations were put on hold after the Red Bull driver finished seventh on Sunday.
Sergio Pérez led the race from the get-go after a strong start as he passed pole-sitter Charles Leclerc. However, as time passed and DRS was activated, the Ferrari driver started to catch up to the Red Bull.
For his second victory of the year, Perez outlasted Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc by 7.6 seconds, with Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. coming in third.
Perez was then given a five-second time penalty for not staying within 10 lengths of the safety car when following behind. However, the Mexican driver had a large enough lead over Leclerc to maintain his triumph by 2.6 seconds.
Perez, 32, has four victories in his career after winning the Monaco Grand Prix in May.
“It was certainly my best performance, I controlled the race,” Perez said. “The last few laps were so intense I didn’t feel it that much in the car but when I got out, I felt it. I gave everything for the win today.”
Perez had secured only two podiums in the previous eight races, a run which included two retirements. Although he acknowledged his form dipped, he perceived some of the criticism of his performances as unfair.
Verstappen’s seventh place finish at the British GP in July is also his lowest finish this year. In the first three races, he also had two retirements.
Verstappen had won the previous five races, but in order to win the championship for a second consecutive year, he needed to triumph here, and finish 22 points clear of Leclerc. That might occur at the Japanese GP the following weekend. The engine used by Red Bull is produced by the Japanese company Honda.
Verstappen leads Leclerc and Perez by 104 and 106 points, respectively, with five more races, including a sprint race in Brazil, giving him 138 points overall.
Verstappen made a mistake after the second safety car restart, following AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda’s crash on Lap 36. When Verstappen tried to overtake Lando Norris’ McLaren, he locked his tires and needed to pit again.
Tricky conditions saw the virtual safety car deployed three times and DRS was allowed with about 30 minutes remaining.
Verstappen lost numerous positions as Perez made a strong start and passed Leclerc.
When Nicholas Latifi’s Williams sidestepped Zhou Guanyu’s Alfa Romeo on lap 8, the first safety car was deployed.
At the restart, Perez took off without incident, and Verstappen moved up to eighth place behind Fernando Alonso, whose record-breaking 350th F1 race came to an unfortunate end when his engine failed on Lap 21, bringing out the first VSC.
With the exception of Mercedes’ George Russell, who had trouble with grip, drivers decided against switching to faster tyres because the track was still wet.
With the exception of Mercedes’ George Russell, who had trouble with grip, drivers decided against switching to faster tyres because the track was still wet.
On lap 33, Lewis Hamilton made a rare error that caused his Mercedes to smash into the crash barrier. Soon after, the leading drivers made a series of quick stops to switch tyres. They did so right before Tsunoda’s mistake caused the safety vehicle to be deployed once more.
Verstappen was able to pass Sebastian Vettel’s Aston Martin at the very end of the race, which was largely disappointing for the title leader.
In the constructors’ championship, Norris finished fourth ahead of teammate Daniel Ricciardo on a successful day for McLaren. Verstappen was preceded by Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll, with Vettel, Hamilton, and Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri filling out the top three.
Russell was given grid penalties for changing various engine parts, and he began from the pit lane. He came in 14th.
