Sergio Perez has recognised that his Italian Grand Prix on Sunday might’ve been easier had he listened to Red Bull, who informed him to pit whilst stuck behind George Russell.
Starting from fifth at Monza, Perez remained in P5 for the opening stages of the Grand Prix, whilst Russell sat ahead of him in fourth.
Very little separated the pair, although it was clear that the Red Bull driver had a pace advantage.
However, even with the help of DRS, Perez struggled to overtake Russell, who was defending superbly.
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Red Bull recognised that Perez was struggling and decided to call him into the pits only, not only to undercut Russell but also to try and reduce the gap to the leading trio.
The 33-year-old ignored Red Bull’s instruction and decided to remain on the circuit, and effectively get past Russell the hard way.
Perez did eventually overtake the 25-year-old, before quickly building the gap.
Whilst listening to the team would’ve made his afternoon easier, it ended up not costing the Mexican driver, who was able to catch Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.
Perez got past Leclerc quickly for third but found himself behind Sainz for several laps.
Similarly to when behind Russell, Perez just couldn’t find a way past Sainz, who was also putting on a superb defensive display.
Perez did eventually make a move stick on Sainz after several attempts and off-track excursions, always at the opening corner.
This promoted the Red Bull driver into second, before he took four seconds out of Max Verstappen’s lead in the final laps.
Perez’s positive performance ensured that Red Bull claimed yet another 1-2 finish, to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship to a ridiculous 310 points.
It was certainly one of Perez’s best performances as of late, although he acknowledged that he made his life more difficult by ignoring the team.
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“Yeah, it was very difficult from the beginning,” Perez told FOX Sports MX. “Russell was very hard to pass.
“Then the team sent me to pits and I decided to stay out, to try to avoid the undercut from Russell; perhaps if I had listened to the team everything would have been easier.
“It was just patience from then on with Charles and Carlos and got on podium.”