The final part of the 2022 Formula 1 British Grand Prix was key in the results of the three drivers who climbed on the podium in the tenth round of the championship, where Carlos Sainz took his first victory in the highest category and Sergio Pérez came back to get a second place.
The Spaniard, after overtaking Charles Leclerc after the safety car restart caused by Esteban Ocon, escaped comfortably, leaving his teammate at the mercy of the Mexican, Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris. In the case of Pérez, he fell to last position after contact with the Monegasque’s Ferrari at Silverstone, but recovered to fourth at the time the stewards removed the Frenchman’s Alpine.
As the race returned to competitive speed, Pérez went on the attack, first overtaking Lewis Hamilton to take third, while Charles Leclerc fell victim to the longevity of his hard tyres .
Video: the duel to three in parallel from the onboard cameras in the Silverstone race
It was there that in the last six laps the Monegasque, the Mexican and the British engaged in an intense duel for second place. The exchange of positions led to the single-seaters brushing against each other for moments and even leaving the circuit, stealing the attention of the spectators and those attending the circuit.
Pérez was the winner of the particular fight, and moved up to second place, leaving Hamilton on the third step of the podium.
The Red Bull driver commented after the race that he enjoyed the duel, but especially the fight against Lewis Hamilton. The one from Guadalajara had a high-intensity battle with the Englishman in the last race of the 2021 season, in Abu Dhabi, when Pérez blocked the one from Mercedes to help Max Verstappen achieve his first championship.
“I already missed having him here to fight,” he said in reference to his duel with Hamilton on the DAZN F1 microphones. “He’s a very aggressive driver, but he’s clean. Fights are a lot of fun with him.”
“In the first lap I had contact with Charles [Leclerc], and the bad luck that my wing was damaged. It seemed that the front wing does not affect these cars much, but it did affect me, so I had to go into the pitlane. I fell to last place, I recovered and then I had the luck of the Safety Car at the end,” he said.
Checo, second in the drivers’ championship, also congratulated Carlos Sainz on his first victory in Formula 1: “I am very happy to have shared the first victory with Carlos. It is more than deserved”.
