Sergio Perez Talks About His Maiden Red Bull Win

Checo On His Maiden Win For The Team

The Mexican says Red Bull Racing Honda can fight for the championship!

Sunday

Baku

Checo

took

his

first

win

for

the

Team

what

was

race

full

highs,

lows

and

emotion.

Now

the

dust

has

settled,

Checo

can

look

back

and

enjoy

this

moment.

That Winning Feeling

“I feel very, very proud first of all. It’s a victory that really shows the amount of work that we’ve put in basically since the first of January,” said Checo when he returned to the Team’s Milton Keynes HQ. “It feels amazing, it just shows 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 and that we really want to win this championship.”

Checo isn’t one to rest on his laurels though, there’s a reason the Mexican has been in Formula One for more than a decade, it’s because he never stops wanting to be better. He said it would take him five races to get on top of the RB16B, and he’s won his sixth race, but that’s not enough. “I just want to keep improving. I’m still not there with the car, I have to keep working hard, I’m flat out trying to get there and just keep improving!” Checo explained.

Checo In The Fast Lane

For most of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Checo was P2 behind Max, which sounds like a great place to be, but when you’ve got seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton breathing down your neck the whole time, it’s going to wear you out. “It was pretty hard because he was there lap after lap,” said Checo on Hamilton chasing him. “Normally in a race you can get in a bit of free air, so you are able to save tyres, brakes, fuel and race your own race. But I came out of the pits and had to be straight into it. Coming out with cold tyres meant that from turn two I had to push all the way through, Lewis was right behind me lap after lap – I had to really keep pushing.”

With just four laps remaining, Max suffered what appeared to be a rear tyre failure, putting him out of the race and pushing Checo up to race leader. The red flags came out and the race director decided there would be a restart, contested over just two laps from a standing start. The pressure was on Checo, and he knew it. “I knew that I had everything to lose,” he said. “It’s only two laps – I’m on pole – and it’s our race to lose. I was focusing on just trying to make the perfect start. For many reasons that didn’t happen but, we got lucky with it because who knows what would have happened if we got a good start with Lewis having issues with his brakes. In the end it worked out but there was lot of stress just for two laps to really deliver.”

We Win And Lose As A Team

After Max’s disappointment, you could forgive him for staying in his driver’s room during the podium presentation, but the Dutchman stood with the Team to cheer on his new teammate, showing there is a team bond. “What Max did was great to see, he really deserved the win, he did everything perfect that weekend, he was just very unlucky, so it was really his win”, explained Checo, before going on to say how supportive Alex Albon has been since the Mexican joined the Team.

“Alex is putting so much work into the simulator, with the engineers. I remember when I joined, I didn’t expect for him to be so open with me, but he explained all his issues that he had, how the car works, and that was very nice to have his support from day one. I really appreciated that and I appreciate the work he’s doing with the Team weekend after weekend in the simulator. There is solid teamwork and ultimately we are top of the Constructors’ Championship thanks to every single individual in this Team.”

With the French Grand Prix next on the calendar, there’s no time for Checo to bathe in his glory, it’s time to keep pushing – 2021 is a marathon, not a sprint. “It doesn’t really matter where we are now, it’s where we finish in Abu Dhabi so we just have to keep chipping away, making sure we maximise our car’s potential and it’s such a long way to go. I’ve been in Formula One for many years that I know still, so many things can happen, so we just have to keep our heads down. Now what has happened is history and we just have to keep looking forwards,” he concluded.

Celebrating Checo's Baku Win

Celebrating Checo's Win

A Win Which Meant A Lot

Pierre Wache And Checo Head To The Podium

Sergio Wins On The Streets

Checo Claims His First Victory With The Team

Shining Bright For Sergio

Congratulations From The Boss

Heading Straight For The Team

That Winning Feeling