Sergio Pérez on Charles Leclerc fight: “We were pushing him hard towards the end”

Sergio Pérez backed up his victory at the damp Singapore Grand Prix with a second place finish at the first Japanese Grand Prix since 2019, which claimed team-mate Max Verstappen his second World Drivers’ Championship.

It was looking for all the world that the Mexican was going to finish third, having gotten past Carlos Sainz Jr. on the opening lap after the Spaniard crashed out of the race. The race was red-flagged for an hour following an increase in the intensity of the rain; however, even when the race restarted it still looked like the Oracle Red Bull Racing driver was going to have to settle for the bottom step of the rostrum.

However, Pérez found strong pace in the closing minutes of the race, which like Singapore resorted to the time limit, rather than the set number of laps. Only twenty-eight laps were completed in the end, with the Mexican having spent the final few of them on the gearbox of Charles Leclerc.

Leclerc suffered from worn-out Intermediate tyres, which he pushed too hard on whilst trying to keep up with the imperious Verstappen. Leclerc had defended well, but made his only error at the final few corners of the race. At the Turn Sixteen/Seventeen chicane, Leclerc ran across it and still crossed the line in second, despite Pérez being less than a tenth behind.

The Scuderia Ferrari driver was therefore awarded a five-second time penalty, which demoted him to third and promoted Pérez to second, gifting Verstappen the title. It also means that the Mexican now leads Leclerc by one point in the fight for second in the standings.

Pérez spoke after the race about how “very proud” he is of his team-mate, who he believes has “stepped up” in 2022.

“I am very proud of what Max has done this season; he has stepped up as a driver. I was fighting with him in the beginning but then halfway through the year he moved into another gear, the way he drove in some races was unbelievable. It is a massive day for the Team, to do this in Japan in front on Honda and with a one-two is incredible. Hopefully soon we are able to secure the Constructors Championship for our Team, that will be massive.

“I am massively looking forward to the rest of the year. It was a great battle with Charles today, it was nice that we got to race because at one point we though we wouldn’t get to. It was a fantastic fight and we were pushing him hard towards the end, it was so difficult to overtake without DRS but I kept the pressure on, he made the mistake and he got the penalty to give me P2.”