Worth the wait!

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Sergio Perez was overjoyed Sunday night after claiming his first career win in

Formula 1 at the Rolex Sakhir Grand Prix at Bahrain International Circuit a victory that was 10 years in the making.

“I’ve dreamed about this moment so many times; it’s taken 10 years to get to this point in Formula 1,” Perez said. “There’s been a lot of hard work through out my career and it’s not just been me, but my family and sponsors too.

“It’s still sinking in that I’ve won the race; I’m almost afraid to get too excited in case I’m dreaming!” Perez said right after his victory.

“Success for Mexico in Formula 1 has been rare, so I will never forget the moment of seeing the Mexican flag on the podium; it was an incredible moment for me and my family.”

Perez had a stunning drive that saw him battle back from a first-lap incident that left him at the back of the field, to triumph by a comfortable 10-second margin.

“It was an unbelievable race,” he noted. “We made such a good start to battle with Max [Verstappen] and Charles [Leclerc] and then I got hit and I was thinking ‘this can’t be happening again!’. We were lucky not to pick up any more damage too.

“We didn’t give up and we pitted to go onto the medium tyre. I then had a lock-up under the safety car and flat-spotted one of my tyres. The vibration became so bad it was hurting my hands to grip the steering wheel and I thought we might have to pit again, but the team told me to stay out.
“The feeling in the car got much better and the medium-tyre stint ended up being crucial to our win. When we stopped for a second time and got onto the hard tyre, it felt like a limousine to drive! It was so smooth and we had some great pace. I was able to over- take Lance [Stroll] and then get past Esteban [Ocon].”

Perez also had some good luck on his side, as the Mercedes pair of George Russell and Valtteri Bottas, who were leading for more than half of the race, faced some troubles in their pit-stops, costing them precious time and allowing Perez to charge to the front.

“Obviously, the Mercedes had some problems, but I think we had enough pace in hand to hold George off—our simulation showed that you needed to be significantly faster to get by.

“Luck or not, we had a tremendous race today and we won on merit.”

Perez was joined and the podium by Racing Point teammate Stroll, and hopes that they can repeat such success in the F1 season-finale in Abu Dhabi later this weekend.

“I was crying behind the wheel and speechless for a while but it’s an incredible result for the team,” Perez said. “Well done to Lance for getting on the podium too. I can’t wait to celebrate with the team. We have one race left and we’re determined to hold onto P3 at the end of the season.”