Perez had 'chance' to win Miami GP without engine issue

Red Bull's Sergio Perez believes a chance to win Sunday's Miami Grand Prix was thwarted by an engine sensor issue that cost him an estimated 30 horse power.

Perez qualified fourth and spent his entire afternoon behind front-runners Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc and the latter's Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.

But a timely free pitstop under the Safety Car in the closing stages of the race set the Mexican up for a strong 11-lap finale on a fresh set of medium tyres.

Unfortunately, his engine's loss of performance left him stranded behind Sainz until the checkered flag.

"I was in a great spot," Perez said. "Unfortunately even with a DRS, I couldn't get close to Carlos, the deficit on the straight-line was quite high.

"I was just pushing really hard to stay close to him on the corners. My tyres were overheating. So as soon as I had a little opportunity, I went for it. It was too dirty offline.

"After that I just couldn't get close. The deficit on the straight line was too much."

• Read also: Team Talk - Sunday in Miami

Asked if he would have had a chance to overhaul his rivals and snatch the win, Perez said: "With a normal engine, I would have had a chance."

"Luckily we managed to finish the race. I think at one point, it was really close to being over. So yeah, to be able to finish the race is good."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner admitted that Perez had got "really unlucky" and estimated the Mexican's engine deficit at "about 30 horse power".

But Horner suggested that a runner-up spot behind Verstappen rather than an outright win would have been Perez's maximum reward without the problem.

"He gave it a real go when we pitted him and gave him the tyre advantage," Horner said.

"Without that issue, he may even have finished second."

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