Motorsport
Red Bull coached Pérez during his battle with Alonso. What advice did he give the Mexican?
The final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix saw an epic battle between Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso for third place on the podium. However, the overhead didn’t offer us the interesting element of their battle, which was Red Bull’s radio communication. In it, the team tried to advise the Mexican driver on how to challenge the experienced Aston Martin driver.
The final laps of the Brazilian Grand Prix saw an epic battle between Sergio Pérez and Fernando Alonso for third place on the podium. However, the overhead didn’t offer us the interesting element of their battle, which was Red Bull’s radio communication. In it, the team tried to advise the Mexican driver on how to challenge the experienced Aston Martin driver.
Fernando Alonso’s battle with a charging Sergio Pérez for third place was certainly the most interesting thing this year’s race at the Interlagos circuit had to offer.
At the finish, the two were separated by just 53 thousandths of a second and Alonso proved once again why, even at 42 years of age, he is still one of the best drivers on the grid. Even though Pérez had the advantage of a faster car and DRS, he couldn’t get past the superbly defending Spaniard for long.
He only managed to do so with two laps to go, but Alonso held on to Pérez and took the position back on the last lap. He took advantage of the Mexican’s poor run through the first corner and on the following straight he was back up to third place, which he now held.
Both deserve praise for their efforts. But the same cannot be said for the TV crew that was in charge of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Often it was not in time or focused on unimportant elements of the race.
Pérez’s radio
The same was true of Red Bull’s radio communications. The latter tried to help Pérez when he saw how helpless his driver was. But the overhead did not pick up the radio.
A transcript has now been made available by Last Word on Sports. For example, race engineer Hugh Bird advised his charge to use the same track as Alonso when going through certain corners.
Bird: ” Be a bit wider at Turn 12. Concentrate on traction and a good exit. Use the same track as Fernando in turns 10 and 12.”
Pérez: “I can’t! If I take the same track as him, I’ll get into his dirty air.”
Bird: ” Okay, so concentrate on the exit of Turn 12. Sacrifice a little speed on the entry to get a better exit out of the corner.”
Even though Bird was trying to help Perez as much as he could. In the end, it was Alonso who celebrated at the finish. Anyway, the Mexican driver can still be satisfied. For after a long time, he produced a performance of which he need not be ashamed.
Source: Formula 1, Last Word on Sports