George Russell honestly ‘surprised’ by what Sergio Perez did in F1 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Mercedes ace George Russell has admitted that he was honestly ‘surprised’ by what he saw Sergio Perez of Red Bull do during the 2024 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix.

The Mercedes and Red Bull stars found themselves engaged in what has become a rare fight at the Hungaroring last Sunday. Both, Russell and Perez, failed to deliver for their respective teams in qualifying on Saturday and required recovery drives to claim a points-paying result.

Russell and Mercedes dropped the ball in Q1, which also saw Perez crash out of qualifying in successive events. While the 26-year-old managed to improve his provisional lap time, other drivers found more as the conditions improved but Russell did not have the fuel to try again.

Sergio Perez’s race pace ‘surprised’ George Russell in the Hungarian GP

Perez’s latest error in Q1 after beaching his Red Bull in the gravel in qualifying for the British GP at Silverstone saw the 34-year-old start the Hungarian GP in front of Russell in P16. They would come through to claim P7 and P8 in the race, with Russell even setting the fastest lap.

But seeing the pace that Perez set while charging up the order surprised Russell having seen the Mexican struggle of late. The Red Bull driver, helped by pitting too early for intermediate tyres, finished the British GP in P17 and got P8 in the Spanish GP plus P7 in the Austrian GP.

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Russell even felt Perez’s pace during the Hungarian GP was on the same level as his Red Bull teammate, Max Verstappen. But the Guadalajara native could not get the most from Perez’s outright speed after another early exit from qualifying and having to fight through the order.

“His pace was surprisingly good, to be honest,” Russell told RacingNews365. “Following his recent form, we didn’t expect to be in a fight with him.

“His pace was almost in line with Max’s but the damage was done [during qualifying]. That is how it should be in the sport – you make mistakes and you get punished.”

Sergio Perez likely achieved his best result possible at the Hungaroring

Perez fighting his way past slower cars en route to finishing the Hungarian GP in P7 ensured his race pace was, at least on paper, slower than Verstappen’s. The Mexican was on average two-tenths of a second down on his Red Bull teammate, plus was level on pace with Russell.

Yet, had Red Bull seen Perez advance to Q3 for what would only have been the third time in the past seven rounds, he likely would still have finished the Hungarian GP in or around P7. Verstappen’s race pace was on par with the Ferrari drivers, who achieved P4 and P6 results.

But questions would have lingered on whether or not Perez could produce similar lap times to what Verstappen, Charles Leclerc or Carlos Sainz set. Doubts have increased over Perez’s future at Red Bull as he has not been in the same league as his teammate in recent rounds.