Perez feared tyres would have “exploded” with one more lap in F1 Turkish GP
Sergio Perez believes his intermediate tℱyres ⛄would have “exploded” had he needed to complete one more lap in Formula 1’s Turkish Grand Prix.
The Mexican𝔍 held off a late attack from the Ferrari duo to cling on🐷to finish second in Sunday’s wet-weather race around a slippery Istanbul Park circuit and claim his first podium of the season.
Perez stayed out on a set of intermediate tyres for 48 laps, while Racing Point pitted his teammate Lance Stroll for a fresh set of♉ intermediates with 22 laps to go as he plummeted from first to ninth.
"I told▨ my team on the radio, I think one more 🍸lap on those tyres and they would have exploded," Perez said.
"The vibraℱtions were extremely bad towards the end. But I think it also made that race, looking after them in the beginni🌳ng [and] towards the end with drying conditions.
🎃"The team did a fantastic job in terms of strategy reading the race. I think Lewis today was extremely strong, and towards the end we died, but we managed to get a good🎃 result.”
Perez came under pressure from Red Bull’s Max Verstappen until the Dutchman spun while attempting a pass at Turn 10, wh🔯ile he also had to overcome a late challenge from thꦏe lead Ferrari of Charles Leclerc to seal second, his best finish since the 2012 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Explaining his battle with Verstappen, P🐬erez said: “I couldn't see anything on my mirrors.
"My mirrors were full of fog, so my enginee🐬r was basically telling me 🦹the gaps and so on. And then all of the sudden, I saw Max like running wide and he disappeared.
"The other one w🍒as with Charles. I wasn't aware that he was so close to me. So in the final lap it was pretty good battle with him. He overtook me into Turn 10, and then I overtook him back into 12. It was a chaotic race, but a strong result for us.”
The result marked Perez’s best finish for the Racing Point team he will leave at the end of the season after ꦬthe Silverstone squad opted to instead sign Sebastian Vettel for 2021.
Asked if the result felt like the perfec🃏t leaving present, Perez replied: "I think as always you know you have to be delivering weekend after weeken🌞d.
"You are 🍨as good as your last race, so it's important to finish on a high. The rest is not in my hands."
Lewis regula🧸rly attends Grands Prix for mahbx.com around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people𒁏 who matter in the sport.
