Red Bull didn’t win the Sunday’s race but they have picked up double podium finish after Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez finished 2021 Turkish Grand prix in P2 and P3 respectively.
Max Verstappen and didn’t have the raw pace to challenge Mercedes today but he is managed to coast to second place finish to retake lead in the driver’s championship battle.
Sergio Perez drove one of exceptional race in recent times for Red Bull to come home in P3, he overtook Charles Leclerc in the final few laps to give double podium finish.
Red Bull still trails Mercedes in the constructors championship battle by 36 points, while Max Verstappen leads Lewis Hamilton by 6 points in the driver’s championship battle.
Max Verstappen (P2)
“As a Team, to finish second and third here was a great result. It was a pretty straight forward race today and I think in general we had a decent day.
The race was all about managing tyres, to make sure they lasted to the end which means it wasn’t the most fun race to drive as you always want to push hard. Nevertheless, I think we maximised the result today and it’s good to be leading the Drivers’ Championship again. I do wish I had a bit more pace in the car but we are still in the fight, we’ll keep pushing and we’ll see in the coming races how competitive we will be.”
Sergio Perez (P3)
“This podium is very special because it was not an easy race for me, it was hard and exhausting at times, so I am very happy this evening.
It has been a while since I have been up there, I think the last two or three races we should have been on the podium, but we have been so unlucky. I got a good start, I think there was some contact between Fernando and Pierre into turn one so there were three cars, including me, and I thought we weren’t going to make it but in the end, it was a good result for me.
After that I didn’t feel comfortable in the first stint with the car and I lost a lot of ground but then the second stint was all about pushing at the right time and using my experience to get a podium for the Team. Lewis was closing in really fast and at that time I was struggling quite a lot with my tyres, he had good pace and I thought he might get past me but it turned into a good fight and I came out on top.
Lewis is a top driver and it was enjoyable racing with him. When I was standing on the podium I saw a lot of Mexican flags in the grandstands, we are so far from home here in Turkey so it was lovely to see. I think there is a lot we can learn from this race, it is a good result for the Team and now we’re looking forward to Austin.”
Christian Horner, Team Principal
“A double podium for us was a great result to come away with this weekend. Max has regained the lead in the drivers’ championship at a track that has traditionally been strong for Mercedes, we limited the damage and it was a great team job with lots of constructor points, so we’ll keep fighting.
The lead for the championship keeps changing hands and the rest of the year is going to be incredibly tight, we have some big races coming up and it’s good to be putting Mercedes under pressure. For us the crucial moment today was when to pit Checo, we could have kept him out to keep holding up Lewis, but we decided to pit him because we didn’t believe Hamilton’s tyres were going to make it to the end of the race.
Checo did an amazing job today, he raced Lewis just as hard as Max does. He went wheel to wheel with him and he actually ended up in the pit lane when Lewis ran him out there, and then it was a drag race down the start-finish straight and he just stuck with it. The next race in Austin has been a Hamilton strong hold so we are going to have to be at the very top of our game, it’s great to be in this fight and the whole team is really enjoying it.”
