Sergio Perez said Red Bull “definitely made some progress” during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix weekend, in which he finished the race in second place behind teammate Max Verstappen.
Perez missed out on starting from the front row at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit after qualifying third, but managed to overtake Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for second after a short fight, the position in which he finished the race behind his teammate.
The Mexican the made his way through the field after pitting during the Safety Car period, and once he reached second place he was virtually unchallenged by Leclerc behind him.
Speaking after the race, Perez said, “we definitely made some progress, and it is a shame we didn’t qualify on the front row.”
“We had a great start, unfortunately Charles [Leclerc] was in the way and we couldn’t get through. It was a nice fight, but a compromised race.
“With the Safety Car so early, it was a very long stint on the hard [compound tire], and it was tricky at times, especially at the beginning with no warm-up, and it took us a long time to get through Lewis [Hamilton] and Lando [Norris].
“But it is a great day for the team, it is a very different track to Bahrain, and we just have to keep this momentum going. We still have some bits to tidy up.”