Perez makes 'no luck' judgment as Red Bull 'gamble' fails

Sergio Perez has conceded that he had "no luck" at all in the British Grand Prix, as Red Bull's early intermediate tyre "gamble" failed.

Perez started from the pit lane after receiving a new power unit, following his Q1 elimination on Saturday after spinning at Copse corner. 

The Red Bull driver made a few places in the opening stages but was the victim of a bad gamble by the Milton Keynes-based outfit. 

During an early shower, Red Bull opted to pit Perez as the rain started to fall, a call Ferrari also made with Charles Leclerc on lap 20.

However, this spell of rain was not heavy enough to wet the circuit, causing the intermediates to degrade in rapid fashion. 

It resulted in Perez's intermediates being destroyed when the rain suddenly intensified several laps later, which resulted in the Mexican driver being lapped by the leaders, including, team-mate Max Verstappen. 

Similarly to Leclerc, gambling early on the intermediates completely ruined Perez's race, resulting in a miserable P17 finish. 

"For seven laps, completely [destroyed] the intermediate and then when the rain came, there was no tyre left," Perez told select media including RacingNews365. "It was just a mess overall. 

"Then we boxed again, we were in the middle of the leaders. Very difficult to make any progress and just not an easy afternoon."

Costly calls

Another driver to pit early for intermediates was Alpine's Esteban Ocon, who returned to the pit lane a couple of laps later to return to slicks. 

Perez almost did the same; however, Red Bull had him survive on the tyres for longer.

Whilst the gamble backfired, Perez pointed out that Red Bull had to take the risk, given the position he found himself in during the opening laps. 

"It was very, very close," revealed Perez, when asked if he almost pitted again immediately after being fitted with intermediate tyres. "I think we were just with our calls a couple of laps late, it's a lot of seconds.

"But I guess at the same time, we had to gamble from the position we were, because we were looking for a few points or big points, so were gambling.

"There was no luck today at all. And it's good that there is a bit of a break so that we can step back a bit and regroup."