Sergio Perez just got his maiden victory for Red Bull in the first half of his first season with them in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The 31-year-old thanked Red Bull’s former driver for that, mentioning his great help and support.

Alexander Albon has been an official driver for the Milton Keynes – based team until the last year and for this season he lost his place to Perez. Neverthless, he remained with the team working at the simulator and in developing the car in race weekends and he has been so helpful that he helped the newly arrived to adjust at the new team and conquer his first win with the team.

“He’s putting so much work into the simulator with the engineers,- Perez states, giving credit to the Anglo-Thai colleague, who has been very open and kind to him  - I remember when I came here, you wouldn’t expect for him to be so open, in a way, with me. But he explained [to] me all his issues that he had, how the car works. That was very nice since day one to have from him so I really appreciated that and I appreciate the work that he’s putting week in after working with the team with this simulator. This is team work and ultimately we are there thanks to every single individual in this team.”

Fully deserved @redbullracing! 🔥 Congrats to @SChecoPerez on the win - mega drive 👏 https://t.co/O3wjXAOSLL

— Alex Albon (@alex_albon) June 7, 2021

He then talks about this win, the second of his career, as his teammate Verstappen’s one, as he inherited the lead from him when the Dutchman was been hit by a tyre failure and had to retire.

“I think what Max did was great to see and he really deserved to win. He did everything perfect that weekend. He was just very unlucky. So it was really his win.- the Mexican said, focusing on his luck.

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/20599/f1-max-verstappen-on-the-championship-fight-we-should-ve-outscored-mercedes-more-ahead-of-return-to-normal-circuits

Perez didn't make a fantastic start following the red flag but got away with it as Hamilton went down the run-off area at T1. 

“[I was] just trying to do that perfect start and for many reasons that didn’t happen,- said Perez. - But I think in the end, we got lucky with it because who knows what would have happened if we had a good start with Lewis having issues with his brake. So in the end, it all worked out.”

After the race, he cheerfully addressed to F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, saying “you guys really like the show!”

Races like this are extremely useful for everyone, from sponsors to fans, passing through teams and drivers who are forging a resistence to work under pressure that was slightly going away through the last years of Mercedes’ hegemony. May more of races until the last corner arrive this season and from the new era, beginning in 2022.