Red Bull driver Sergio Perez believes Ferrari's Carlos Sainz would 'absolutely' have won Formula 1's Australian GP even if Max Verstappen hadn't hit trouble.
Polesitter Verstappen reported a stuck brake from the start of the Melbourne race and after the issue made him lose the lead to Sainz on lap 2, the Dutchman's right rear brake finally gave up on lap 4, forcing him to retire. But Ferrari's race performance and the way it handled front tyre graining, which had already looked promising in practice, has prompted Perez to say that Sainz would have beaten Verstappen the race anyway.
Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB20 Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images 'We already saw last year in a track like this - for example, Las Vegas a front-limited track - Ferrari was a lot stronger than us so we just couldn't look after the front tyres.' Perez's case wasn't helped by incurring a three-place grid penalty for impeding in qualifying, which shuffled him back from third to sixth on the starting grid.
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