While defending the team’s choice at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Christian Horner asserted that Sergio Perez may have outperformed Charles Leclerc under certain circumstances.
Horner believes that because Perez lost a lot of time while starting his last stint behind Lewis Hamilton, he was unable to compete with Leclerc. The team’s owner thinks that if it weren’t for the Mercedes, he “maybe” could have pulled it off. According to him, RacingNews365.com
“Perhaps if he had been able to get beyond Hamilton [quicker], you know, the maybes, ifs, and. There were a few back markers, but they were useless. However, it was so near.”
In the season’s last race, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc faced off for a second place in the championship. Both drivers had equal starting points, however, the Mexican driver had the advantage because he qualified first.
However, things took a turn for the worst for him after Red Bull put him on a two-stop plan. Leclerc made the decision to save his hard tyres, stayed in the race, and finished first.
Horner appeared to support the team’s selection. He thinks Perez would have been a “dying fly” by the time the first stint (on a 1-stop) would have concluded. They attempted to mount him on new tyres so he could battle his way back for that reason.
Horner declared: “At the conclusion of the shift, we had the option of either dying like a fly or trying to attack. We decided to attempt to assault, and I believe that he would have arrived with one more lap.”
Sergio Perez’s difficulty with the front right tyre is explained by Horner
Sergio Perez voiced his displeasure over the wear on his front right tyre throughout the race over the team radio. The need to summon him into the pits for a tyre change, according to Horner, was brought on by this.
Like the majority of the grid, Perez began on mediums before being switched to hards after his first stop. It’s interesting to note that when he returned, he received more hards.
Horner declared: “I believe Checo [Perez] simply damaged the front right tyre a little further. The front [tire] was dead, he said on the radio, and we could see that Ferrari was getting ready to undercut.”
The separation between the two vehicles was still sufficient after Sergio Perez was directly behind Charles Leclerc. Perez, though, increased his lead over the Ferrari in the closing circuits, gaining roughly a second every lap. That didn’t quite get him to the finish line, though, as he could only manage a P3 finish in both the race and the championship.
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