What a race we had in Sepang yesterday! Let me repeat, WHAT A RACE! Fernando Alonso winning the Malaysian GP for a beleaguered Scuderia and Sauber’s Sergio Perez tailing him till the end – I’m sure no bookie had odds for such an outcome. This shows that rain is good for entertainment, but in the right amounts, since no one wants a repeat of 2009.
Fernando was at his very best, finding a sweet spot in the Ferrari and milking its performance to the max. As if trying to make his teammate look even better, Felipe Massa had another horrid afternoon, mixing with the new boys at the back. There are rumours that Ferrari’s patience with the little Brazilian is wearing thin, and Perez is the man they want. Yesterday’s performance by the young Mexican would have done his prospects no harm!
It was a landmark drive from Perez, meaningful for both man and team. Yesterday’s result was Sauber’s best as a non-manufacturer squad since Heinz-Harald Frentzen took third at the 2003 United States GP. Perez becomes the first Mexican to stand on the podium since Pedro Rodriguez did so at Zandvoort in 1971. Despite a late mistake, and “team orders” to take it easy, the 22-year old believed he could win.
“Really! I think the win today was really possible. Obviously the team did very good work to call me in at the right times. We lost one lap just at the end to Fernando on the dry tyres, so we lost about two seconds, and then my pit stop didn’t go so well with the clutch. And then I managed to catch him, lap by lap.
“Towards the end I had some understeer into a left-hand corner, the quick one, and I ran wide enough to go into the wet and then I just lost control of the car and went straight and lost the fight for the victory. When I caught him I knew it would have to be quick to overtake him because I was having a lot of degradation in my front tyres, especially going behind him. So I went looking for the way to get him and then I just ran a bit wide and touched the wet kerb – I was lucky not to go off,” Perez said.
“In the end, second it’s a great result for the team. Many points and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season. It’s only the second race of the season and hopefully we can keep improving our car to fight the big guys,” the affable young man added.
The last time we were raving about a young driver, the boy Vettel went on to be champion. Will this career defining drive be a launchpad for Perez? Click here for the full race report from our man on the field.
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perez was an awesome hero in the making. seen him on tv, god that young thing really flies
Congratulations Perez! You made this year’s Malaysian GP the most memorable Malaysian GP I’ve ever watched.
Last year, there were many praises for Paul Di Resta as being the best rookie, but personally, I’ve always liked Perez most. Although it’s a bit frustrating to see he could’ve won, but it was still a spectacular drive by him, eating away his gap with Alonso lap after lap. It keeps the race interesting and suspenseful. What’s more he’s an underdog in a team which used to have association with Petronas, it makes me want to cheer him on.
Peter Sauber demonstrates yet again his sharp talent spotting skills. Great job team Sauber and Perez!
this should serves as a reminder to those who always bad mouth “PAY TO DRIVE” drivers su*k big time…..well, time to eat back those words down their throats…..haha
yeah man, i seriously think Perez’s the Man of the Race yest…. he did an extremely good job especially for a debut season… kudos
Checo hailed from Ferrari Driver Academy and that Little Brazillian can pack up right now.
Let me get lne thing very clear – getting behind Alons is one thing, but OVERTAKING him is another story. If you are a true F1 fan you would remember Schumy was harassing Alonso to make a mistake on his vastly superior Ferrari as compared to Alonso then less powerful Renault. And to rub salt to the wounds, it was on Ferrari’s track. In the end Alonso finished the race ahead of Schumy on 1st place.
yeah his flying.. he can tail alonso which is good.. but bad luck for the mistake he made…
Someone is sore because Red Bull is being owned this season.