For Sergio Perez, the difference between him and Max Verstappen is not big. The 33-year-old Mexican senses his chance in the Formula 1 World Championship fight. “There are small margins between us at the moment,” he said after winning the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Two weeks after Verstappen’s success in the Red Bull in Bahrain ahead of Perez, Perez relegated Verstappen to second in the Red Bull at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, the Dutch title defender started from position 15 after a defect in the drive shaft in qualifying, Perez from pole.
World Championship standings: Verstappen one point ahead of Perez
However, Verstappen did not want to give up the lead in the classification. After two races he is one point ahead of Perez – thanks to the fastest lap in Saudi Arabia. “Typical Max: Last lap so Perez can’t counter, the fastest lap smashed,” commented Red Bull’s motorsport boss Helmut Marko.
By the 49th, Perez had turned the fastest lap, but as if on demand, Verstappen snatched the extra point from the Mexican in the last lap. “That’s typical Max. He always tries to get the most out of it,” said Sky expert and former world champion Nico Rosberg: “Sergio had the same opportunity.”
Before the Australian Grand Prix on April 2, the 25-year-old and 36-time Grand Prix winner Verstappen leads the standings by one point ahead of Perez, who won a Formula 1 race in Jeddah for the fifth time in his career. “I’m here to fight, that’s the only reason,” said 33-year-old Perez about the World Cup duel with Verstappen.
