2022 British GP: Post-Race reaction from Max, Checo and Red Bull

Sergio Pérez claimed a stunning podium finish, rising from last place after an early collision to take second place behind first-time race winner Carlos Sainz at the end of a thrilling, incident-packed British Grand Prix that saw Max Verstappen forced out of the lead due to floor damage. Down on power and struggling for grip, the Dutchman clung on to finish in seventh place.

On lap 12, though, Max suddenly slowed on the Hangar straight. Sainz and Leclerc swept past as Max got on the radio to report that he had driven over some carbon when he went wide at Copse and he had possibly sustained a puncture.

He pitted to take on more medium tyres and the champion resumed in sixth place, behind Alonso. Max was soon back on the radio, though, saying that his RB18 was “100% broken”, but race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase responded that he had sustained floor damage and that though he would suffer a loss of load and performance he was fit to continue.

Sergio Perez (P2)

“It is a good day for us and the Team after such a messy weekend for us. Physically I wasn’t one hundred percent this week and after lap one I was last, so to come away with second place is a great result. I was so unlucky on the first lap making contact with Charles, I broke my front wing and had to drop to the back.

So we had to fight for it and it feels good to have a result like this. I am also very happy for Carlos and to share his first win with him is a nice moment for him and his family. I enjoyed the racing today a lot, we were fighting hard and fair and it felt like my karting days. Everyone was pushing really hard and going wheel to wheel, my heartrate was pretty high on those last laps. It was a race where it was important not to give up.”

Max Verstappen (P7)

“Seventh place is a good result considering the damage I had on the car and with Checo on the podium, we’ve scored some good points for the Team. I of course had hoped for more but today was just unlucky.

I had a look at the car during the red flag and the whole of the underneath on the left-hand side was ruptured. I hit a huge piece of debris; I think it was carbon. As I was driving it felt like a puncture as I had no balance and a lot of oversteer. The car was a handful to drive, I tried to find a good aero balance but it was difficult.

I understand that Alex is having precautionary checks at the hospital, so I hope that he’s okay. It’s never nice to see these things and today proved once again that the halo is a massive improvement for safety, I think without it Zhou would have been in a different state”

Christian Horner, Team Principal

“It was a phenomenal performance today from Checo after the damage he sustained to the front wing end-plate on the first lap, we had to change the nose and his drive back through the field was just sensational. He benefitted from the safety car which enabled us to put on a fresh set of tyres, but his pace and race-craft was just exceptional.

For Max, he’d taken the lead and was in a commanding position but unfortunately some debris did a lot of damage to the floor of the car which lead to a massive loss of downforce. It was unfortunate because I think it would have been a fantastic race for him today, but every point counts and he fought as hard for P7 as he would for the win.

The biggest result today is that all drivers are in reasonable shape considering the scale of the crashes we saw today and we hope to see Alex and Zhou fighting fit in Austria next week.”