Sergio Perez was left ruing a slow pitstop in the Mexican Grand Prix, which he believes cost him a shot at passing Lewis Hamilton for second place. The Red Bull driver started fourth on the Soft tyres, but was able to muscle past Mercedes' George Russell on the opening lap to run third. He was the first of the leaders to pit on Lap 24 of 71, opting for a set of Medium tyres, but a slow right-front tyre change delayed him. Despite closing up to within one second of Hamilton later in the race after the Mercedes switched to Hards, Perez was left to finish in third.
Perez on slow stop
"I did my best today and pushed really, really hard," he explained to media post-race. "Unfortunately, we had a little bit of a slow stop which ruined the undercut on Lewis and overtaking was really difficult. "As soon as I got behind him, it was really difficult to follow. "Unfortunately, it didn't work out for us today, but it is still a good podium." Perez is now five points clear of Charles Leclerc in P2 in the standings after the Ferrari driver laboured to sixth as they battle to finish runner-up behind runaway champion Max Verstappen, who won the race with Hamilton second.
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