Perez: Red Bull missing out on 1-2 finish “a bit of a shame”

Perez ran Lewis Hamilton close for second place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez after pressuring the seven-time champion in the closing phase of the race.

It was Perez’s first podium finish on home soil and Red Bull’s 1-3 finish has allowed it to close to just one point behind Mercedes in the constructors’ championship.

He described his podium finish as “very special” but admitted that he wanted more from the race.

“Yeah definitely, podium at home grand prix is very special,” Perez said after the race.

“I wanted more, wanted to win the race, finish 1-2 for the team would have been amazing.

“But at the end of the day we are so competitive persons if we finish third we don’t enjoy it but today is one of those days where I must enjoy because the crowd, just seeing so many people so happy, and especially on the podium pretty much everyone who has been with me since day one was there so that was special for me.”

Perez got within the one-second DRS window of Hamilton on multiple occasions in the final laps but couldn’t get close enough to make a move.

Reflecting on the fight with Hamilton, he added: “It was really close, there was a lap where it was so critical to do the undercut, they pitted that lap so we did the opposite and we went long. It was a bit tricky with the lapped cars as well, I reckon we all lost some time there.

“It was close, I didn’t have a chance, overtaking here is really difficult, given their straight line speed, really strong on that. I didn’t have the chance, so a bit of a shame, as I think we had the pace to finish 1-2 today.”