Perez was surprised on last lap: 'Leclerc not expected there at all'
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After a chaotic race, Sergio Perez finished in third place. The Mexican was on course for P2 for a while, but he was overtaken by Charles Leclerc in one of the last corners of the street circuit. The Red Bull driver, who definitely secured second place in the championship in Las Vegas, was not expecting Leclerc, he explained.
"It started really difficult with a lot of damage initially," began the driver with the number 11 on the car. "We broke the front wing, so we basically went all the way to the back of the grid. Progressively, we were picking off cars one by one and things were going well. We had really strong place on that first stint, so we got ourselves back in contention. With the Safety Car, it brought us back into the race. I overtook Charles but I couldn't pull away from him," Perez explained.
Perez did not expect Leclerc
"Then Max came and he passed us both. It was difficult out there with gusts of wind that we had. I ended up locking a few times but luckily I kept it on track," Perez admitted honestly. "In the end with Charles, I wasn't expecting him. He was 0.7 behind but in the braking zone he was there, so good job to him and Max."
The gap between Perez and Lewis Hamilton in the world championship standings is now 41 points, meaning the Mexican has P2 permanently secured. He was widely criticised this season for not being good enough, so P2 in the championship was actually seen as a 'must' for the Red Bull driver.