Perez admits he ‘got lucky’ with Safety Car timing

Sergio Perez has admitted he “got lucky” with the Safety Car that propelled him back into podium contention at the British Grand Prix.

The Mexican’s top-three chances looked all but over when he was forced into the pits on lap six for a new front wing, having suffered damage during contact with Charles Leclerc as the Ferrari squeezed through on the inside.

Largely unnoticed amid a three-way tussle at the front, the Red Bull driver crept back up to fourth but was still well adrift until a Safety Car period, triggered by Esteban Ocon’s Alpine stopping on track with a fuel pump failure.

With his team-mate Max Verstappen nursing a damaged car in P7, Perez was right back in the mix and, stopping for soft tyres like most of the other front-runners, he suddenly found himself potentially even a victory candidate given his car’s pace if he could pull off some moves.

Perez did get past Lewis Hamilton when racing resumed, then added the scalp of Leclerc – who was left out on hard tyres – and although he could not challenge eventual winner Carlos Sainz, a runner-up finish must have been more than he had dared to envisage after that early pit-stop.

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“I was unfortunate with Charles on the first lap,” said Perez at the post-race press conference.

“There was not much room for three cars and unfortunately I took the worst part of it. I got front wing damage, which on these cars they said it didn’t affect that much, but for me I had no front end.

“I was forced to pit and basically I went all the way to last and just recovered from there, lap after lap.

“The medium tyres were holding on pretty nicely and we got lucky with the Safety Car at the end, which