Red Bull’s Sergio Perez scored his first-ever home podium on Sunday, as he crossed the line in third place at the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Perez also became the first Mexican driver to ever secure a top-three finish at their home event, while team-mate Max Verstappen dominated the event en route to victory.
The 31-year-old started the race in fourth place but moved up one spot after Valtteri Bottas was spun around at the first corner.
Going long into the race, Perez also led a handful of laps in front of his fans before stopping late on and dropping back to third.
“Being on the podium at your home grand prix is something very special,” Perez said.
“Obviously I wanted more, I wanted to win the race and obviously to finish one-two for the team would have been amazing.
“At the end of the day, we are such competitive people that if we finish third, we really, really don’t enjoy it.
“But today is one of those days that I must enjoy because [of] the crowd and seeing so many people so happy.
“Especially on the podium, like very much everyone who has been with me since day one was on the podium, so that was extremely special for me.”
In the latter stages of the race, Perez was chasing down Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton for second place, however he couldn’t get close enough to make an overtake attempt.
“It was really close,” Perez said. “There was a lap where it was so critical to do the undercut.
“Obviously they pitted that lap, so we did the opposite and we went long. It was a bit tricky with the lapped cars as well.
“I reckon we all lost some time there. It was really close. I didn’t have a chance. Overtaking here is really difficult, given their straight-line speed, they were really strong on that.
“I didn’t have a chance so it was a bit of a shame, because I think we had the pace to finish one-two today.”
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