Perez explains why attack on Sainz failed during closing stages Miami

Perfect starting position for Perez

Perez entered the pit lane under the safety car to get fresh rubber. With Verstappen in the lead and with Perez in pursuit of the Ferraris, Red Bull was in a good position to dictate strategy. Perez's stop, which narrowly kept him from losing his P4 to Valtteri Bottas, put him in a perfect position to take a podium away from Sainz and maybe even Charles Leclerc's P2. Indeed, with ten laps to go, the Mexican was right behind the Ferrari drivers on fresher and softer rubber.

Problems to RB18 made it impossible

There was only one attack from Perez on Sainz. That attack failed and no more came. Motorsport-magazin.com quotes the Mexican's post-race reaction, "It was a sensor problem. It went well at first, but after we had the problem, we lost seven seconds in two laps." Although the problem seemed to stabilise, there was no coming back under its own power. "It wasn't the same car anymore. I was missing ten km/h on the straights."

The Red Bull Racing car that won the race in Verstappen's hands precisely because of its supremacy on the straights was no longer worth much in Perez's hands. Horner already told after the race that the problems caused a time loss of half a second per lap. Perez: "Even with the DRS I had no chance. The gap on the straights was just too big."