Perez: Victory was within my reach

Sergio Perez shone at the Malaysian Grand Prix, taking second place behind Fernando Alonso (Ferrari). The Mexican climbed to the front by taking advantage of the race interruption on the ninth lap when he was one of the only drivers not to have gone through the pits to change tires when the rain appeared . The Mexican was not only able to maintain his position against Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), but above all threatened the leader of the Grand Prix by being the fastest on the track before making an unfortunate error at the end of the race annihilating his hopes of victory.

“I really think I had my chances of winning”, recognizes Sergio Perez, who had already lost time by stopping a lap later than the Asturian to fit the slicks. “I was catching Fernando at the end of the race. I knew I had to get it back quickly because my tires were deteriorating, so the task was not easy. Then, I went wide (in turn 14) hitting the curb. This is when I probably lost the victory. It was difficult to catch him, but victory was possible. The team did an incredible job and the stops were made at the right time. My pace was fantastic, I was really very fast. I am happy for the team. »

Discover the analysis of the Malaysian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in the next issue of AUTOhebdo available from Tuesday in digital version and from Wednesday on newsstands.