The Mexican driver Sergio Pérez was close to achieving the runner-up in Formula 1, as he was surpassed by Charles Leclerc, from Ferrari, for second place in the championship at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the last date of the 2022 season.
The race had no more interest than the fight for the drivers’ runner-up, as Max Verstappen, the brand new two-time champion, started from pole position and won the race, setting a new record of 15 victories in a season.
The one-stop strategy gave Leclerc second place in the race and in the World Championship standings and embittered the man from Guadalajara, whom he beat by three points in the final table because he lacked laps and had too many lapped riders in his battle against the clock with the monegasque.
In the fight for the second place, Pérez stopped too early, on lap 16, and left behind Vettel, with Alonso in the rear-view mirror. The man from Guadalajara took a little longer than expected to overcome the German. Worse was Russell, who made a bad pit stop and also committed an unsafe release, which resulted in a five-second penalty.
Leclerc, who was provisionally leading, stretched out the first stint until lap 22. He rejoined third behind the two Red Bulls and just ahead of Sainz, who did not attack his teammate.
Red Bull was driving suspiciously slow, as if it were going to a stop, but Pérez entered on 34. That was the key, despite a good passage through the pits (2.4 seconds). Leclerc and Ferrari agreed to do the opposite of Red Bull and kept the car on track. Battle of strategies.
The one-on-one between Leclerc and Checo turned into a time trial for the Mexican driver. Sainz stopped at 40; His partner held on and also Hamilton and the Dutch champion. The Mexican was fourth, ten seconds behind Leclerc after 44 laps.
Cabals in Ferrari and Pérez’s fight with Hamilton on the asphalt, with a succession of overtaking. In lap 46, he passed Stevenage’s, he was just over nine seconds behind the Monegasque and went after him, but some laps made him lose a few tenths and the race fell short.
Leclerc resisted, just like Verstappen, and the podium did not change. Sainz improved one place due to a breakdown in Hamilton, and finished the race in fourth position and the World Championship in fifth.
I gave it my all: Czech after the race
The Mexican from Red Bull was “happy” despite not having achieved the runner-up spot in the Formula 1 world because he gave “everything” on the track.
Checo was 1.3 seconds behind Monegasque Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) in a time trial in which he was unable to hunt down his rival, with whom he was competing for silver in the World Cup.
“It was very tight and in the end you have to be happy because I gave it my all and as a team we also did it during the season and I’m sure we’ll come back stronger next season”, he declared in the interview on the track.
The man from Guadalajara considered that he had “great moments, great battles” and also “some problems with tire management in the race.”
“I hope to improve next season and be a little stronger,” wished Pérez, bronze in the 2022 World Cup.
In the end, heThe two points that Checo lost in the Brazilian Grand Prix because Max Verstappen he disobeyed the team order to let himself be passed by his teammate did not influence the fight for the runner-up, because with the result in Abu Dhabi, Leclerc would also have been runner-up by one point difference.
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