Sergio Perez gave credit to Alexander Albon for helping him get up to speed at Red Bull following his first victory for the team last weekend.
Albon lost his place at Red Bull to Perez following last season. However he is continuing to work for the team in a development capacity during race weekends.“He’s putting so much work into the simulator with the engineers,” said Perez. “I remember when I came here, you wouldn’t expect for him to be so open, in a way, with me. But he explained [to] me all his issues that he had, how the car works.
“That was very nice since day one to have from him so I really appreciated that and I appreciate the work that he’s putting week in after working with the team with this simulator. This is team work and ultimately we are there thanks to every single individual in this team.”
Perez scored the second victory of his career in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix after team mate Max Verstappen retired when a tyre failure spun his car into a barrier. Prior to that Verstappen had been leading the race ahead of Perez. “I think what Max did was great to see and he really deserved to win,” said Perez.
“He did everything perfect that weekend. He was just very unlucky. So it was really his win.”
The Red Bull driver admitted he was lucky not to get off the line better. “[I was] just trying to do that perfect start and for many reasons that didn’t happen,” said Perez. “But I think in the end, we got lucky with it because who knows what would have happened if we had a good start with Lewis having issues with his brake.
“So in the end, it all worked out.”
After winning the two-lap sprint to the finish, Perez told Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali “you guys really like the show”.
“He said, ‘well, this is fantastic for the fans’ and so on. It worked well for us but it obviously put a lot of stress just for two laps.”
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Alberto
10th June 2021, 15:21
It is good to see some positive team work and cooperation at Red Bull. Lately they have been seen as a villainous operation with people only fighting for their own individual gains to an average viewer and Netflix subscriber.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
10th June 2021, 15:25
I agree, it’s easy to see them as the team who ditched Gasly and then killed Albon’s career.
But Gasly and Albon are still a major part of the RedBull operation (Gasly is actually a bit of a star in that Alpha T!), it’s nice to see Perez acknowledge that – he’s a class act.
RandomMallard (@)
10th June 2021, 15:56
@geekzilla I agree. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Albon can do in DTM when that starts next weekend. Although I’m not sure which rounds he is driving, or whether it is all of them.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th June 2021, 17:05
@randommallard He only competes on non-F1 weekend rounds.
RandomMallard (@)
10th June 2021, 17:30
@jerejj Thanks. So he should attend every round (I think) with the exception of the Red Bull Ring (which clashes with the Dutch GP), and potentially the Norisring depending on if/when that gets rescheduled.
Balue (@balue)
10th June 2021, 17:38
Agree. Even Horner is being nice. Maybe they’ve seen the light after losing Ricciardo and even Alonso with the wrong attitude, and how many race wins and points is that.
erikje
10th June 2021, 18:49
when did they “loose” him?
I know Alonso hyped some interest or even created that story. But as far as i know RBR never contacted Alonso.
Homerlovesbeer (@homerlovesbeer)
10th June 2021, 23:34
Lately they have been seen as a villainous operation with people only fighting for their own individual gains to an average viewer and Netflix subscriber.
Well I’d say that’s been true for a long time and the Redbull team environment has been seen to be very caustic. I’d say there has to be some truth in that. It’s nice Albon is helping out, it’s a shame though that it’s not Max and that sort of confirms the team environment talk.
Jon
10th June 2021, 15:26
Every time Perez is near the front the excitement of the races tends to go up for some reason. Well done Checo and Respect for acknowledging Albon’s work. Now go work on making that extreme style produce a pole position.
Jere (@jerejj)
10th June 2021, 17:06
”a lot of stress just for two laps.” – Indeed. Pretty much what I’ve been pointing out, LOL.
F1MadFan1970 (@)
10th June 2021, 17:16
And yet they dropped Albon for Perez?
Red Bull are to fond of this move and it made me laugh to see Marko hugging and praising Perez when he was berating him not long ago.
Bill
10th June 2021, 18:44
He has matched two of my old time favorites
Pedro Rodriguez and Patrick Depailler. Both fearless racers! 👏👏
F1.Fan (@f1-fan)
10th June 2021, 21:05
Seriously man, I think that I am gonna cry here. I can’t believe that someone mentioned Patrick. And I still can’t understand how mediocre drivers, like Andretti, or below than mediocre, like Hunt, have been champions but not him.
CC78AMG
11th June 2021, 1:30
Given everything he’s accomplished in all forms of motorsports how the hell can you consider Andretti to be mediocre? The guy is probably the most versatile/adaptable driver in history. He’s won in everything.
SteveR
11th June 2021, 3:38
I think he means Michael……. who was a fish out of water.
Edvaldo
11th June 2021, 15:39
To mention Andretti, Hunt and champions on the same line, he is most likely talking about Mario, yeah.
Abel
10th June 2021, 21:45
Grande Pedro!
faulty (@faulty)
11th June 2021, 4:05
He should sport Pedro’s helmet in the CDMX GP.
Horacio
11th June 2021, 9:53
Oh, Depailler, one of my all time favourites.
Green Flag (@greenflag)
10th June 2021, 19:40
Perez should credit Pirelli’s contribution to his first win for Red Bull.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
10th June 2021, 20:24
Had his pit stop been ‘normal’ then he might have taken first place without any Pirelli failures!
….Though Max may have passed him due to the long straight, DRS, or a sneaky team order.
Gabriel (@gabf1)
10th June 2021, 20:49
@geekzilla9000 Christian Horner has said that Perez stop was slow because he overshot his marks.
Dan Rooke (@geekzilla9000)
10th June 2021, 20:55
Ah right, I’d not heard that. He’s lucky he didn’t get a stuck wheelnut then! :-D
Dave
10th June 2021, 23:43
Last time at Monaco, Horner credited Albon for the Monaco win. And people quickly reacted “based” elsewhere outside of this site.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th June 2021, 2:06
Well, albon wasn’t exactly setting the stars alight during his red bull stint!
Mayrton
11th June 2021, 9:46
Can we, despite the budget cap, get the reserve car back for the teams please? Since Masi is going to red flag a lot more, it will make things extra interesting. Drivers running back to the pit to get the car, etc,
MEF
11th June 2021, 9:48
Not a chance Albon would’ve won that race – RB made the right decision absolutely.
Mayrton
11th June 2021, 13:28
RedBull has a nice momentum going on as a team. Bit the opposite to whats happening at Mercedes. Could be pivotal, if not this years then next.
Peter Denmark
7th September 2021, 18:18
Albion was about as useless as a chocolate teapot. Often spinning, causing accidents and blaming others, including our beloved Hamilton. He deserved to get dropped as he was becoming quite a liability.