F1 winner Perez sure he could have kept Russell behind without his issues

Sergio Perez is confident he would have had the pace to keep George Russell behind and still win Formula 1’s Sakhir Grand Prix even if the Mercedes driver had not suffered his late puncture. 

The Racing Point driver turned in a sensational recovery drive from sitting 18th at the end of the first lap after getting spun around by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to seal an unlikely first-ever grand prix win in Sunday’s race. 

Perez, who does not have a drive for next year, inherited the lead after Mercedes suffered a calamitous double-stack tyre mix-up that cost both its drivers and dropped them down the order during a late Safety Car. 

Long-time race-leader Russell battled back from fifth and was chasing Perez down as he looked to fight back for the win before picking up a late puncture when he ran over debris in his W11, enabling Perez to scamper clear to victory. 

“I think after what happened in Imola, when we made the wrong choice under the Safety Car, we were clear what we wanted to do here,” Perez said. 

"We were staying out. We were fairly confident I was going to be able to restart on tyres and to be able to go to the end with good pace.

“With George it was going to be close but I think I was going to be able to hold him back because we had good pace,” he added. 

“He was about two-to-three tenths [faster], sometimes four tenths, sometimes I was matching him. I think the closest he got was 2.8s. The information we had as a team was you needed a difference of eight-tenths a lap to overtake. 

“It was going to be close but I think given the age of my tyres, given the pace I had in the end, the pace I had in hand, I was going to be able to hold him back until the end.

“I think we won today on merit. Yes, the Mercedes had some issues but I think in the end my pace was strong enough to have held George, who did a fantastic race.” 

Perez said he could leave F1 feeling “a bit more peaceful” with himself if he were to miss out on the Red Bull drive for 2021 and face a year on the sidelines having now claimed his maiden win.

“It makes me a bit more peaceful with myself,” Perez explained. “What happens is not so much in my hands at the moment but I know I want to keep going so if I’m not on the grid next year I will be back in 2022.

“We’ve seen drivers like him missing out on seats so it’s just the way Formula 1 is,” added Perez. “It can be really tough, and not the best drivers are in Formula 1, unfortunately.”