(Motorsport-Total.com) – Cadillac saw the checkered flag with both cars at the Chinese Grand Prix, but an internal team collision between Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas made everyone’s pulse race. Fortunately, the contact shortly after the start remained without major consequences for both drivers. (The race result at a glance)
Read more «Max is in a horror show»: Toto Wolff reacts to criticism from Verstappen
“Yes, that was all my fault,” Perez admitted after the race. The Mexican wanted to push past his teammate on the inside at Turn 3, but overlooked that Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) was also on the outside.
“I saw the gap and wanted to take it,” the Cadillac driver added. “But Valtteri obviously had no way to avoid it. Unfortunately, that ultimately cost me the race because I spun and lost a lot of time.”
“That’s the worst feeling you can have, for myself and for the team,” Perez admitted. “Fortunately, nothing bad happened. In my opinion, the incident was simply a misjudgment on my part. Luckily, nothing happened.”
No Cadillac trouble between Bottas and Perez
Even after the race, there was no resentment between the two Cadillac drivers. “I think that’s how it should be when there are no bad intentions between teammates and you look at the incident,” emphasized Perez, who spoke directly with the Finn afterwards.
“It’s important to apologize immediately and realize that you made a mistake. That’s just how it is, sometimes you make mistakes,” says the 36-year-old, who is however “glad” that his teammate was able to finish the race despite minor damage to his Cadillac.
Read more China Data Analysis: How close is Ferrari really to Mercedes?
“A large piece of the floor on the left side was missing, that didn’t help,” Bottas revealed. “I felt the contact but didn’t really know he was there. But in the end, everything is fine, and I’m very happy with 13th place in our second race for the team, already close to the points.”
“Of course there were many retirements, but it’s a good result for us,” added the Finn, who however missed his first Cadillac point by 44 seconds. “Of course we still lack pace; we see that at the moment we can almost only fight with Aston Martin, but at least we can fight with them. If we want to beat other teams, we need more performance.”
Sergio Perez struggles with technical problems
And Perez? The Cadillac driver started a recovery race after his spin and even managed to reconnect with the field. “In the second stint, I wanted to overtake Valtteri using the overtake mode when the engine cut out,” Perez reported. “The battery was empty, which caused me to lose about five seconds.”
Later, another “15 or 20 seconds” were added, the 36-year-old added, who despite the technical problems draws a satisfactory conclusion: “Overall, it’s positive that we finished with both cars.”
While Perez ultimately finished in 15th place, teammate Valtteri Bottas was classified in 13th place. “The negative is that we still have a lot to improve in many areas to ensure that we don’t lose positions on the track and go into the races much better prepared,” says Perez.
Read more Aston Martin: Probably not much faster even without Honda engine vibrations