Pérez Fights Back For Hungarian Grand Prix Top-10 Finish As Tsunoda Also Shines
Oracle Red Bull Racing's Sergio Pérez powered through the field at the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday to bag seventh place and join Dutch teammate Max Verstappen with an important points finish.
The Mexican started 16th on the grid, however put pedal to the metal to slice through the field and claim six points as reigning three-time Formula One champion Verstappen earned 10 in fifth.
Visa Cash App RB's Yuki Tsunoda also finished in the points thanks to his ninth spot, while Australian teammate Daniel Ricciardo was not far behind in 12th at the Hungaroring circuit.
QUOTES
Oracle Red Bull Racing
MAX VERSTAPPEN - 5th "Today was a tough race for us so naturally that frustrated me as I want things to be better. If you look at the whole race I don't think we were fast enough; we unfortunately just didn't have the pace and the strategy wasn't working for us today. The high temperatures on the track also meant that the tyres overheated, especially when we were trying to overtake throughout the race, which was very tough. We got stuck behind cars and let ourselves get undercut and I think we just didn't have our best day. We had to fight our way back and lost so much time that we lost touch with both the McLarens. As the pace of the car wasn't as good, we really needed to capitalise on the strategy and we just didn't manage to do that today. I need to look back at what happened with Lewis but I committed to the move and I don't think I braked too late but we collided. I don't think we could have beaten McLaren today but, from qualifying yesterday, I did think that P3 was on the cards, so it is a disappointing day all in all."
SERGIO PEREZ - 7th
"I think that was the maximum we could achieve today; overtaking was impossible in the first stint on the hard. It was an aggressive strategy to begin on the hard and it worked well for us, from the start it was about putting it all together, making the right calls and the right progress. My Team had to rebuild the car overnight and it was not one hundred percent on set-up, some correlation was off, so it's positive I was able to feel at one with the car today and I am getting the feeling back, this is a good boost of confidence. The Team did an incredible job to get the car on track today after my crash, I need to maximise my own performance to match their hard work. The only thing that matters to me is my Team and the people working with me, I have to give my very best to them because they deserve it. I am here keeping my head down; I will keep improving and get back to my form. I think we have the pace to fight at the front, we showed it today and it is just a matter of time until we are back on the podium."
CHRISTIAN HORNER - CEO and Team Principal
"It didn't work out for us today. We seemed to have understeer and then losing that position at the start and conceding back to Lando affected us. We tried giving an overlap to give Max the pace but to no avail. The middle sector, in parts of the race was where we were looking competitive but there is plenty for us to look at to try and see how we can improve and come back stronger next weekend. Checo drove a good race today and his strategy, getting the undercut on George, worked well. He also showed good pace, made good overtakes and hopefully would have taken some good confidence from that for a strong performance in Spa."
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YUKI TSONUDA - 9th"First of all, huge thanks to the mechanics and team who spent the night and this morning repairing my car in time for the race. It wasn't easy after such a big crash and we had to change a lot of things, but because of their hard work we were able to score the points today - huge credit to the whole team. I'm very relieved I was able to make up for it after yesterday's crash and particularly happy with my tyre management. I think it was a big race for us, especially as we were able to finish ahead of our competitors, and it's a huge positive for the coming races."
DANIEL RICCIARDO - 12th"Today it was a long and frustrating race. We didn't use the pace we had in the clear air. We were on the mediums at the start of the race and after only a few laps we pitted for new hards together with the other cars who started on softs, coming out in traffic. It's even more frustrating because we were quick all weekend, and I felt like we have taken ourselves out of the race so early as we couldn't fight cars that were coming much quicker on newer tyres."
GUILLAUME DEZOTEUX - Head of Vehicle Performance"Yuki finished P9 and brought us two precious points which reward the hard work the team has put in overnight repairing his car from the crash yesterday in qualifying. Both cars had a good start but lost positions to the soft runners in the opening laps. Some cars started to pit early, and we reacted with Daniel, which put him in heavy traffic and did not allow him to use his pace. Anticipating his second stop allowed us to gain a few positions back and Daniel could show good lap times, but it wasn't enough to end up in the points for him and he finished P12. With Yuki, we decided to extend the first stint. His good tyre management and the consistency of lap times opened the possibility of doing a one-stop race, which is what we went for. This strategy allowed us to beat the two Aston Martins which is a great achievement, concluding this weekend on a high note."
LAURENT MEKIES - Team Principal
"Over the past few weeks, everyone in Faenza and Bicester worked hard and effectively, delivering the upturn in performance we witnessed here in Hungary. Getting both cars into Q3 was proof of that, once again heading the midfield and the points we picked up today are a well-deserved reward for all that effort. Yuki's race was sensational, and we were the only car daring to do a one-stop race, which allowed us to beat not only the midfield runners but also both Aston Martins. Yuki's tyre management was second to none, and he made it stick to the end. The team also did a truly remarkable job in a short space of time by rebuilding Yuki's car around a new chassis following his Q3 crash. Unfortunately, we got it wrong with Daniel and pitted him too early in heavy traffic, which lost him a chance to fight for points. His pace had been extremely strong all weekend long, and he demonstrated that again in the final stint of the race when he was finally able to find some free air and fight his way back. We certainly share his frustration, and we will learn and come back stronger next week. Now we move on to Spa, a very different challenge to the Hungaroring. We go there with the positives of our strong weekend here and will push very hard to get our car to work as best it can at this fast and flowing track."