Sergio Perez’s first-corner collision during the Mexico City Grand Prix, according to former Formula One driver Martin Brundle, was
the “last thing” that Red Bull, the race promoter, and himself needed.
The return of Perez to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez last decade was greatly helped by the excitement around his position on
the grid, and his relocation to Red Bull in 2021 only served to intensify the festival-like atmosphere.
However, since winning two of the first four races of the season, the Mexican has battled with form. He knew going into the track last
week that he needed to put in a solid showing to quell ongoing rumors about his future with the Milton Keynes-based team.
Following a strong qualifying run that saw him pull even with teammate Max Verstappen, Perez made a brilliant start from fifth and
attacked both the Dutchman and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for the lead at the first corner before making the heartbreaking decision to
retire.
“Until the turning into Turn 1,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports F1 column, “Perez did everything right.”
“Having started from fifth on the grid, he made a superb move by catching the three drivers in front of him in their slipstream and
accurately identifying the gap on the left, which also happened to be the cleaner, wider racing line into the first curve.
Since he was now on par with Leclerc, he could be considered a victim of his own excellent start and wise choices.
After placing second and first here, he later revealed that he had hoped to dominate the race and win spectacularly, but that is when things tragically went wrong.”
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