'I couldn't have done anything differently,' Pérez's frustration after incident with Russell in Austria

After a nice climb from the 13^e the 5^e place in the Sprint Race, Sergio Pérez positioned himself as a serious contender for the podium in Austria. Excelling in the exercise of moving up the peloton, the Mexican was a real threat, particularly for George Russell. And from the start, the pilot Red Bull made the Englishman understand that he was going to make his life difficult.

In the shoes of the hunter, Sergio Pérez was quick to take action with an attack from the outside on his partner in crime. Mercedes at turn 4. Although he seemed to be holding the rope to pass in front, the native of Guadalajara finally came up against George Russell who was determined not to give him the position. Result ? Contact between the two men and passage through the gravel trap for Sergio Pérez.

Another very good start for Verstappen and Perez in the gravel after contact with the Mercedes 😬

The replay of the start ⬇️#AustrianGP 🇦🇹 | ▶️ https://t.co/t7uFs3yVeh pic.twitter.com/jgQsfQkr3o

— CANAL+ F1® (@CanalplusF1) July 10, 2022

Falling back to last and returning to the pit lane, the Mexican finally resigned himself to retirement after having completed a series of laps far from the times of the drivers in front of him. “ It is very frustrating, he regretted afterwards. It's only the first lap of the race, and it's always very important to never have any incidents.

It's a shame our race ended so soon. I had the whole race ahead of me and I thought I had good opportunities, so it was very painful. We had a lot of damage to the car, and we were nowhere... To be honest, there's nothing I could have done differently other than going straight into the gravel to make sure he had a clear path. I gave him enough room to do the maneuver and it was up to him to control the car since I was clearly in front. I don't know what else to say... »

Despite a 5-second penalty observed during his first stop where he also changed his wing, George Russell was not really impacted by this incident. Although he fell back into the peloton, the Englishman managed to regain his 4^e initial place while Sergio Pérez followed the end of the Austrian Grand Prix on television.

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