Sergio Perez defends his Lap 1 move: ‘I am proud of myself because I gave it my all'

Sergio Perez has admitted he was fixated on taking the lead of his home F1 race when attempting to overtake Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen on the opening lap of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 - crash at the start of the race. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 20, Mexican
Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 - crash at the start of the race. Formula 1 World…

Perez crashed out on the opening lap after misjudging his turning point into Tur꧋n 1, colliding with Lecler𒁃c which sent his Red Bull airborne. 

It was a sad en♔d to Perez’s home grand prix as he was aiming for a third consecutive Mexico City GP podium.

Reflecting on Lap 1, Perez described it as a “racing incident” but conceded he 🎃couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to potentially lead in front of his home crowd.

“I had a tremend♑ous start, the gap was there,” Perez exp🤡lained. “To be honest since I was starting the race, I’d be really disappointed to be on the podium knowing that I had a chance to go for the lead and I didn’t take it. I just went for it.

“I wasn’t expecting Charles, he was in middle, and🅷 he had less room to manoeuvre and to brake as late as I or Max did. I think simply there was no room for three cars. It was a total racing incident.

“In hindsight, I should have…I don’t know…I shouldn’t say that but in hindsight, I should back out and go 𝓰home. I just wanted to give it all, went totally for it. I’m very sad for the end result, to end the race on the first lap at your home grand prix is definitely really sad.

Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-23 and Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 - crash at the start of the race. Formula
Charles Leclerc (MON) Ferrari SF-23 and Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 - crash at the…

“On the other hand, I’m extremely proud of myself because I gave it my all. We left it all [on the table] the whole weekend. We had probably the best start of the ꧒year. We just went for it.”

With Hamilton finishing second, the gap between the pa♒ir in the race for P2 i🧔s now just 20 points.

Despite another disappointing Sunday, Perez🍌 isn’t concerned by his lack of good results.

“The result will🅷 come, we’re back there. Our pace is there,” Perez added.

“We knew what was wrong, the res🥀ults will come. I’m not concerned by it, I’🤡m more sad about it. You see with a lot of drivers, they have bad weekends when they’re not fully comfortable.

“You see this weekend from Fernando, it’s not like Fernando is a🍨 bad driver all of a sudden.

“And he struggles to find the pace of the car. ༒This is just part💛 of the game.”

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