Perez lost the sprint race already at the start: 'Then it gets tricky'
Red Bull Content Pool
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Sergio Perez started third and also finished the sprint race in P3. The Mexican was battling Daniel Ricciardo at the beginning of the race, and because of that, a gap was formed to the cars ahead of him. The Mexican reacts after the race.
"It was really hard to get through Daniel in the beginning, and once I got through, I got through it quite quickly, but I was three seconds from Charles and given the short duration of the race, it was pretty tricky. I was like getting within two seconds, 1.8, but then it was quite hard to get a little bit closer.," Perez said immediately after the race in Miami.
Perez explains where things went wrong
At the post-race press conference, Perez was able to elaborate a little more on the start, where he tried to overtake Leclerc but ended up losing a place to Ricciardo: "I lost a place to Daniel at the start, basically trying to get Charles, but I think we all broke really late, and I just went deep into turn one. I ended up locking, so I lost the position to Daniel, nearly lost another position to Carlos [Sainz]."
"the race was just a little bit too short [to attack Leclerc]. In this sprint race, as if you have the safety car, then it's really hard to really do anything else." Perez concluded. Later today, Perez will get a second chance during qualifying for the Miami Grand Prix. The Grand Prix will follow on Sunday.