Perez praises Albon’s ‘openness’ in helping him achieve maiden Red Bull F1 win
The Mexican claimed his first victory in his sixth race for Red Bull at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after teammate Max Verstappen crashed out due to a tyre failure five laps from the end.
Perez - who replaced Albon in the team at the end of last year - said before the season started that it would take him around five races to get up to speed in Red Bull’s 2021 F1 car and revealed that Albon’s early advice helped speed up his adaptation process.
“Alex is putting so much work into the simulator with the engineers,” Perez explained in a Red Bull video.
“I remember, when I came here, you wouldn’t expect him to be so open with me. But he was explaining all of the issues that he had, how the car works and that was really nice, since day one, to have from him.
“So I really appreciate that and I appreciate the work that he is putting in at the team with the simulator. This is team work and ultimately we are there thanks to every single individual in this team.”
Speaking in his post-race column after the Monaco Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner credited the work Albon had done in the simulator during the weekend, something he felt was key to Verstappen’s success there.
Reflecting on his first win for Red Bull, Perez said he believes it shows that the hard work he has been putting in since he arrived at the team is now paying off.
“I feel very, very proud,” he said. “It’s a victory that really shows the amount of work that we’ve put in since the first [day] of January.
“It shows that hard work always pays off, so I’m very proud. And it’s a great boost for the whole team, to know that we’ve got two cars that can fight [for wins]. We really want to win this championship.”
Despite enjoying a breakthrough in Baku, Perez insists he still has work to do to get fully comfortable with the RB16B.
“My aim is just to keep improving, I’m still not there with the car,” he added.
“I have to keep working hard and flat-out to get there, and just keep improving.”
Lewis regularly attends Grands Prix for Crash.net around the world. Often reporting on the action from the ground, Lewis tells the stories of the people who matter in the sport.
