The unseen mistake that nearly cost Perez victory in Russell's race

As a calamitous pitstop and a slow puncture denied George Russell a sensational win on his Mercedes debut, Sergio Perez charged from last to end a 50-year wait for a Mexican winner - but it could all have been very different in Sakhir

Alex Kalinauckas Dec 7, 2020, 10:02 AM

Upd: Dec 7, 2020, 5:44 PM

At the inaugural Sakhir Grand Prix, Formula 1 got a glimpse of what things could look like without Lewis Hamilton. The world champion had been forced out of the race by a positive COVID-19 test, and while that misfortune ended his streak of 265 consecutive grand prix races, it gave the rest of the field a golden chance to shine.

And they took it. The weekend had been set-up as a duel between the new Mercedes line-up, with George Russell going up against Valtteri Bottas. But the pulsating battle between the duo didn't end with one picking up critical momentum for Mercedes' 2022 driver line-up decision. Instead, Sergio Perez and Racing Point came away with victory in what will surely go down as a famous grand prix thriller, which was defined by two starring drives and one calamitous pitstop.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.