Sergio Perez was devastated to deny Red Bull a one-two finish at the 2024 Chinese Grand Prix, losing positions during the Safety Car periods before crossing the line in third place. Perez had a challenging start to the race when Fernando Alonso passed him for second place into Turn 1. While he went on to recapture the position, the Mexican was once again defeated when a Virtual Safety Car, which later became a real Safety Car, was used midway through the event to rescue Valtteri Bottas’ stricken Kick Sauber, which had developed a mechanical problem.

This time, Lando Norris outpaced Perez, while Charles Leclerc also led the Red Bull. The 34-year-old Perez then battled with the Ferrari before eventually passing on Lap 39, securing the final podium position. When asked after the race if the strategy was the reason he lost, Perez replied, Yeah, that actually cost us quite a bit. Unfortunately, with the Safety Car, we lost two positions.

We did most of the race on the hard [tyre], once you’re fighting like that in the early laps then the life of the tyres just goes off dramatically. At least we managed to get onto the podium, but it would have been good [to be] one and two, the Mexican racing driver added. As well as missing out during the Safety Car phases, Perez also acknowledged that his race pace was not as strong as he might have liked.

I think we were definitely lacking some pace, especially on the medium compound, we did struggle quite a bit with the balance, Perez expressed. We changed a lot from yesterday to today, so I think we didn’t read the conditions as perfectly as we could, but overall, I think it was a strong weekend and we understand the reasons why today the race pace was a little bit down, he admitted.

Despite his struggles at the Shanghai International Circuit, Perez remains hopeful that he can pose more of a challenge to teammate Max Verstappen next time out when the Miami Grand Prix returns from May 3-5.

Asked if he would still be pushing for a win at the next race weekend, the 34-year-old Perez said, Yeah, that will be the target. Perez currently sits in P2 of the drivers’ championship on 85 points, 25 points behind his team-mate Max Verstappen at the top.