Sebastian Vettel now has some “big shoes to fill” at Aston Martin next year following Sergio Perez’s win at the Sakhir Grand Prix.
Having been 18th and last at the end of Lap 1, the Mexican was in the right place at the right time to inherit the lead after Mercedes’ pit-stop fiasco under the second Safety Car, going on to claim his first victory on his 190th F1 start.
It was the perfect response after an engine failure forced Perez to retire from third place with three laps to go a week earlier, although it had left Racing Point in a race against time to be ready to race last weekend.
“We had a big shunt [with Lance Stroll] and we also had one car on fire, so with only a week to go, we had a scant amount of spares and parts,” team boss Otmar Szafnauer told Sky Sports.
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“We couldn’t put two cars together. Everyone worked really hard back at the factory, night and day.
“We flew Lawrence [Stroll]’s plane back. It waited until Thursday to fly the car parts out so we could build two race cars. That’s what it’s about – it’s about teamwork, not about any one individual.
“So the real lows we experienced last week make the highs [of first and third at the Sakhir GP] even sweeter,” added Szafnauer.
“I’m really happy for the team. What a great drive from Sergio, last to first, not many people can say that. He has a heart of gold and is a very generous man.
“Lance drove a stunning race too, another podium for him. He’s quite young and learning and it was just great for both drivers.”
It was a result which also put Racing Point in a good position to wrap up third in the Constructors’ Championship this weekend in Abu Dhabi, 10 points ahead of McLaren.
But with Perez without a seat currently for 2021, F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn thinks his Sergio’s strong end to the year will put Vettel in a position to prove himself.
“This was a thoroughly deserved victory for Checo,” the Briton said via Formula1.com.
“I said last week Racing Point may be feeling they underachieved [this season]. Well, they corrected the scales yesterday, big time, and all credit to them. They were there and picked up the pieces and Checo just drove brilliantly.
“His replacement, Sebastian Vettel, I’m sure will come back stronger, as he’s in a bit of a trough at the moment, but Checo is a guaranteed deal. So that’ll be interesting to see how that develops.
“In a way, Seb has some fairly big shoes to fill now, even if he’s a world champion.”
Perez’s win was also the first for a Mexican since Pedro Rodriguez 50 years ago, and the 30-year-old hopes it will inspire the next generation to get into motorsport.
“Obviously I know a bit about Pedro,” said Perez. “[I have] never been able to share experiences with any Formula 1 drivers in terms of winning or being on the podium and so on because Pedro [drove] many years ago.
“I heard that he had tremendous talent. Obviously, that was another era but all I’ve heard about the talent that he had was very special. Unfortunately, he died at a very young age but it’s good, it’s good to have good memories.
“We are leaving good marks in the sport for Mexicans. It’s not easy to get into Formula 1 and succeed in this sport so it’s important to leave a mark and hopefully, in the near term, we can have another strong Mexican on the grid.”