Sergio Perez who was exceptional in his penultimate race for Racing Point registered his maiden victory in Sakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain on Sunday. However, Esteban Ocon and Lance Stroll finished the podium at the second and third position respectively. Initially things look difficult for Perez when the race started as George Russell was looking all set to pull off a maiden victory on his first outing for Mercedes.
A race @SChecoPerez and @RacingPointF1 will never, *ever* forget… 💭#SakhirGP 🇧🇭 #F1 pic.twitter.com/sE3XX0VWgt
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 7, 2020
But Mercedes gave him wrong tyres when he was pitted under a Safety Car on lap 62 of 87 forcing another pit stop to correct the error and then he suffered with a puncture immediately at P9 position that made him difficult to finish at F1 position respectively.
Racing Point team boss Otmar Szafnauer also feels the 30-year-old should be on next year’s grid.
“He absolutely deserves to be in Formula 1,” he told Reuters. “He did a great job today
“He definitely deserves a place on the grid.” He added.
Perez after clinching the victory said this win has made him more determined to either stay on-grid or return to 2022 for F1 racing.
The Sakhir Grand Prix was his first maiden victory in 190 starts he has been part of which brought his podium tally up to 10. This victory was also special to him in a way he took fourth place in Drivers Championship with 125 points, 13 ahead of Daniel Ricciardo.
He also talked about his future in Sunday’s post-match conference where he said “I’ve always said about ’22 there was a race, taking a year out at this stage of my career that I am”.
“I never know what’s going to happen, if I will have the will to come back for doing that, bad year I decide to stop but after today, after the last couple of races, I’m sort of determined to be here, either if it’s next year or the year after.
“I already have some good options for ’22 so my best option is obviously to keep going on next year but if I have to stop, then it’s not a disaster, I can come back in ’22.
“The regulations are going to change so much that in a way, I don’t think it will hurt that much the driving side, to get up to speed.
“I’m at peace with myself, you know. I think Esteban mentioned that drivers like him missing out on seats, so it’s just the way Formula 1 is, it can be really tough and not the best drivers are in Formula 1 unfortunately.
“So we keep pushing and we keep delivering and I think that’s the best way to do it.”
Formula one sport is the highest class of international auto racing where single-seater racing cars compete who are sanctioned by Federation Internationale de Automobile(FIA). The word “Formula” in the name refers to the set of rules to which all the players who compete in their cars should meet the standards of racing which is played usually worldwide on purpose-built circuits and on closed public roads. Europe is the sports traditional base but the championship is conducted globally with 11 out of 21 races in 2019 season was conducted outside Europe.
