The 2023 Brazilian GP has been the most electrifying affair on this year’s calendar, cementing Interlagos as one of the most drama-inducing tracks to host the F1 Circus! First, we got a taste of what was to come during Friday’s qualifying thunderstorm. We were then greeted by an exhilarating sprint shoot-out and race! While Max Verstappen and Lando Norris were the two most dominant forces on track, Fernando Alonso was not far off in his Aston Martin!

However, the Mexican minister of defense was on a mission! After his home GP shenanigans put an end to his dream of winning in front of the home crowd, Sergio Perez was aiming to please the fans at Interlagos. Slowly chipping away at the Spaniard’s lap times, the pressure was on in the final laps of the race!

Sergio Perez blames team orders for missing out on Brazilian GP podium

Perez had been looking in form ever since the lights went out but found himself stuck behind George Russell in the opening phase of the race. Russell and Hamilton were playing the team game but it did not last for long. Perez was past Russell on lap 14, chasing down Hamilton only four laps later!

With the tires failing on the W14, Hamilton made a pitstop for fresh rubber, triggering a reaction from the Milton Keynes garage. Red Bull had decided to cover Hamilton and Russell’s pitstops. But the Mexican was not sure this was the right call. Perez’s heroics just a few laps earlier were undone, as he came out of the pits in between Hamilton and Russell, meaning he would have to waste precious time regaining a position he lost due to the team’s call.

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Putting the setback aside, however, Sergio Perez carved his way through the field and found himself chasing down Fernando Alonso. A battle that ensued for much of the ending leg of the race, Sergio Perez just couldn’t make it in time! Heading down to the checkered flag side by side, Alonso trumped Perez’s charge by only 0.053 seconds!

Although he gave his everything on track, Sergio Perez was left baffled by the team’s call to pit with Hamilton and Co. even when Perez was nailing it on his own strategy. He reflected on the radio “****… I don’t know what to say. We should not have followed Lewis there in the first stint, but anyway. Good points.” 

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Whilst the Mexican was critical about the pit-stop shenanigans, he was pleased with a solid points-scoring result, creating a comfortable distance between him and Lewis Hamilton on the driver’s standings.

Will Mercedes fail Lewis Hamilton in the fight for second with Sergio Perez?

In a season full of twists and turns for everyone driver apart from Max Verstappen, perhaps the one that left fans on the edge of their seats the most was the last-lap showdown at the Brazilian GP between Perez and Alonso. However, there has been an even greater twist of events in the battle for second this weekend!

After Sergio Perez retired from the Mexican GP due to his heroics in turn one, Lewis Hamilton was steadily closing in on the Mexican’s 20-point lead in the driver’s standings. This battle would have been even closer if the seven-time champ had not been disqualified from Austin! With Sergio Perez under pressure from Red Bull and Daniel Ricciardo, the Mexican had delivered a mega driver to steer clear of Lewis Hamilton’s ailing W14.

However, if the team had not pitted Perez to cover Hamilton, which did not work out in the first place, the Mexican would have easily gotten Alonso well before the checkered line. Whilst Hamilton lost out on some mega points to Perez, it could have been a better haul for the Mexican had the team’s orders worked out. Nevertheless, the bigger issue is with Hamilton’s challenger, failing to provide consistent performances that have cost him time and time again!

It’s not like Mercedes to mess around with their set-ups too often. But it’s twice now that the Brackley outfit has failed to perfect their setup during a sprint weekend. Although Perez has had the better car throughout the year, Hamilton has been the better driver.

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But with the W14 failing him at every turn, Lewis Hamilton’s hopes of securing second in the standings against Sergio Perez require a miracle after the Brazilian GP!