Perez: Red Bull 'lucky' to get away with Saudi GP error

Sergio Perez feels Red Bull was "lucky" that his five-second time penalty in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix did not cost any positions.

The Mexican was handed the sanction by the stewards after an unsafe release against Fernando Alonso during pit stops under the safety car following Lance Stroll's heavy Turn 23 crash.

Perez rejoined in fourth, and ultimately cleared Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris, who did not stop, but he was unable to catch or pose a threat to Verstappen who recorded a 56th career win.

He did, however, hold onto second place, finishing well ahead of Charles Leclerc on the road, enough for the penalty to be negated as Red Bull continued its strong start with a second one-two of the season.

'We definitely made some progress'

"It was a shame that we got the penalty," Perez explained.

"Luckily it did not hurt out race, but I think in this scenario, it was quite close to Max and everyone was coming in at the same time. We just need a wider pit-lane."

As for the race, Perez felt that it was a good showing from the RB20.

"We definitely made some progress, and it is a shame we didn't qualify on the front-row," he said.

"We had a great start, unfortunately, Charles was in the way and we couldn't get through and it was a nice fight but a compromised race.

"With the Safety Car so early, it was a very long stint on the Hard, and it was tricky at times, especially in the beginning with no warm-up, and it took us a long time to get through Lewis [Hamilton] and Lando [Norris].

"But it is a great day for the team, it is a very different track to Bahrain, and we just have to keep this momentum going. We still have some bits to tidy up."