Why Perez and Red Bull 'need to talk': "I was told I would get it back"

Sergio Perez was not happy when he had to let Max Verstappen pass him while he was in a leading position, even though his teammate was clearly faster at the time. During the press conference, however, he tells us that there is more to the story.

There was a promise made to the Mexican by Red Bull Racing, the first time he passed Verstappen after losing two positions due to a mistake. "During the first stint, when I let Max by, I was told that I was going to get it back," Perez explains.

Knowing they were on different strategies he didn't make a big deal about it. Therefore, when he was driving in first place later in the race he assumed he could keep the position. "I felt like I could have gone through and probably given a better shot at my strategy," he explained.

So initially Perez went for a two-stop, which many teams assumed was the best strategy. Red Bull took a gamble by putting Verstappen as one of the few drivers on a planned three-stop strategy, which the Mexican also realized after the race was the winning strategy. "At the end of the day, it turned out to be the three-stop the way to go," he admits.