Sergio Pérez did not cross the checkered flag at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after a late retirement in the closing laps of the race, but before that happened he did a great job helping Max Verstappen by blocking Lewis Hamilton for two laps .
By lap 20, Checo Pérez was leading the race after the two title contenders came through the pits to fit the hard tyre. The order for the Mexican was clear: stop Hamilton as much as possible to allow Verstappen to cut the eight-second lead that the Englishman had already achieved.
For two laps, Pérez battled for the top position against the seven-time world champion, helping the Dutchman reduce the gap to just 1.5 seconds. The Mexican’s actions were criticized by the Mercedes board and also by Lewis Hamilton, who considered that it was dangerous driving by Checo, but race control rejected these complaints.
With the race over and part of Verstappen’s celebration, Perez told FOX Sports that he understood Hamilton’s complaints, but that he had to play his part as part of the team.
“As an athlete you don’t want to find yourself in these situations,” Perez said. “In the position that Hamilton had, it’s difficult to find a driver who annoys you and harms you in the world championship, but in the end I’ve done everything for my team. I’ll stay with that.”
“I am happy for Max because he was the driver who deserved it the most. He has driven at an incredible level throughout the season.”
“Max has been an excellent teammate and a great person, that’s how the whole team has been in general. It’s a shame that in the end we didn’t get the constructors’ championship,” he added.
To finish and speaking about his abandonment when third position on the podium seemed to be assured, he explained: “In the end I had to retire because the engine was on the verge of breaking and we didn’t want any more Safety Cars, but I think we could have stayed at one or two points from them in the constructors’ championship if we stayed on the track. But hey, today the important thing was Max’s championship.”
Pérez battling with Hamilton at the 2021 F1 Abu Dhabi GP:
