October 2, 2022 was an unusual rainy day for Singapore. A sweet rhythm?of downpour and periodic halts kept people guessing. Being a Sunday, people with their respecting plans were on the mercy of the clouds above.??
The weekend brought Formula 1 Grand Prix to the city, which is known for its scant disregard for anything normal or usual in an F1 race.
It¡¯s not always that the top three at the end of qualifying at Singapore mirrors the troika that crosses the checkered flag first on Sundays.
After all, not all races are like the 2016 Singapore GP; where Rosberg, leading Ricciardo and Hamilton, the top three on Saturday, finished the main race in that order on Sunday.
In 2017, both Ferraris, i.e., Raikkonen and Vettel including the Red Bull of Verstappen came together in an extraordinary opening lap skirmish, which meant a triple race retirement.?
The race started well after an hour at the famous Marina Bay street course. It was hard to say what was more fascinating. Was it the fact that the occasion called for a massive celebration particularly for 2022 F1 frontrunners Red Bull or the fact that Black Eyed Peas and other bands were all set to rock Singapore at a venue that didn¡¯t seem certain to host a proper race given just how wet it was.
Yet, something stood out for me right at the fading moments of the hugely delayed start.
As I found some grip on a horribly slippy staircase on the rain-soaked Bay Grandstand section of the magnificent circuit, finding my seat as I was, which was bang opposite the captivating giant wheel, my attention shifted to the pack of crowds whose loud roars could be heard easily on the third floor; which is when it came from the ground floor.?
The blaring sound of, ¡°Checo.. Checo,¡± enveloped rows 42 to 46 at Bay Grandstand so distinctly that it was as though the subject of the crowds¡¯ admiration was right in front.
It of course was, albeit several metres away, inside the Red Bull garage, away from the unpardonable rains and us mortals.
At a track where Verstappen was primed to be the world champion that day (though eventually he didn¡¯t), where icons like Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton were around, and where Ricciardo and his massive smile were already a hit, this happy-go-lucky pack was jumping unabashedly with a giant poster of their favourite driver.
What was this lot doing, head to toe covered in water, absolutely unfazed by the fact that the rains had very nearly led to a race¡¯s cancellation, I wondered?
Truth be told, they weren¡¯t interested in anything else other than upholding its love for one of the best there is, one of the best teammates that any driver can ever get.? ?
This crowd was celebrating the legend of a certain Sergio Michel Perez Mendoza.
And I can only say this with all honesty since I bore first hand witness to the ensuing scenes, you couldn¡¯t have possibly doubted the crowd.
Not long after the race began, after a harrowingly late rain-infested delay that Sergio Perez snatched the lead of the race from pole sitter Charles Leclerc.
For someone who made setting poles seem like child¡¯s play this season, Leclerc¡¯s Singapore pole position being his ninth (a record), that it wasn¡¯t Max Verstappen, but Perez, who spoiled Ferrari¡¯s party, was brilliant.
And in some sense, exhilarating in that Verstappen, the usual attacker wasn¡¯t needed.
The Mexican led nearly every single lap from that point on to take his maiden Singapore Grand Prix victory, a win that set ablaze flashy fireworks deep into the night skies over a towering city.
By the looks of it, it was ideal, picture perfect even.
Given a city that has taken the fight to the likes of New York, Milan, Tokyo, LA for being a truly swanky cosmopolitan destination saw that driver emerge at the front of the pack who had given a fight to other salubrious names on the grid.
For that is what Perez does and does with glee; the Red Bull driver was with Racing Point when he scored his maiden career win at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix.
But even then, two years back in the day, Perez¡¯ victory was not straightforward and perhaps not even on the cards.
As teammate Stroll (Racing Point) gathered a tenth, Perez did as well as bagging a fifth for the 87-lap contest.
But soon as the lights went green, the charging Mexican became interested in a? three-way fight for third, the other two runners being Leclerc and Verstappen.
Though thanks to Leclerc braking awfully late and thus hitting Perez, the Mexican¡¯s race fell apart but only just; while Verstappen and Leclerc race-retired, Perez was able to rejoin the grid but the problem was the deployment of the safety car.
Some exceedingly fast and well-controlled racing in the end saw the unlikely candidate emerge out in front amid a stunned fanbase as Racing Point scored a colossal upset and Perez in the process of it all, his first win in 190 races.
Though, truth be told, he¡¯s never had it any easy.
In his maiden race, which was the 2011 Australian GP, Sergio Perez scored P13 at the Albert Park circuit. In doing so, he emerged ahead of Barichello, Trul?l?i, Heidfeld, Glock and even Kovalainen.?
But when it came to the main race, he was DSQ for an illegal rear wing. Sadly and interestingly, Perez wasn¡¯t alone; even his then-teammate Kamui Kobayashi was disqualified for the same irregularity.?
Upon his Red Bull debut, which came in 2021 Bahrain, nearly one and a half years ago, Perez was only able to collect a P11 in qualifying.?
Truth be told, the brave driver had seen better days in the past.?
But while the quali pace was absent at Sakhir, Sunday¡¯s Grand Prix produced something nothing short of stellar.?
Even as his teammate- and defending world champion of 2022 Max Verstappen- was on pole, Perez was ready to fight it out, albeit from P11.?
At the end of the 56-lap contest, Perez bagged a P5 and in so doing, beat both the Ferraris.?
Leclerc and Sainz got sixth and eighth, respectively.?
These are precisely the drivers Sergio Perez defeated and that too, single handedly at Singapore without needing his familiar teammate (and tour de force) Verstappen for any sort of help.?
Funnily, Max was fighting his own battles at the Marina Bay while the fireworks belonged to the fire-starter of the 2022 Singapore Grand Prix.?
Just think of it for a second. Had Perez not made that dazzling move on the outside of Leclerc seconds from the race start, would Red Bull be in the commanding seat in which they were at the street course??
None of what Perez has done in Formula 1 - and he still has lots to do- as ever been easy.?
During his Racing Point years, he was a figure of stoicism and consistency for a side that never had the privilege of being on the front row.?
Even then, Perez never eschewed the grind and kept himself on the toes for his side because he knew he had to do the bulk of the side¡¯s scoring.?
Ditto for when the racing outfit hadn¡¯t been rebranded as that and were known as Force India.?
Even at Singapore, the most recent of his victories, Perez knew that simply snatching the race lead from Leclerc, arguably the fastest driver of 2022, wasn¡¯t enough.?
Lap after lap, corner after corner, the Ferrari driver kept up the ante of pressure on his track leader from Red Bull.?
But, the Mexican Tom Cruise didn¡¯t budge. Despite the enormity of rains prior to the track on a surface that would soon become horrifically wet, Perez kept chipping away.?
He would ensure that the Ferraris would set out on a wild goose¡¯s chase; the Red Bull was so rampant and unaffected by the relentless focus of Leclerc that it didn¡¯t even seem as though Perez would get under pressure, let alone succumbing to it.??
To hold the race lead in any Grand Prix can be challenging. That Sergio Perez stuck it out in the front for forty eight consecutive laps out of 61 was commendable.?
And truth be told, it didn¡¯t come any easy.?
Now, why¡¯s that??
Here¡¯s a fact that has hitherto remained unsung and even under-visited:
Interestingly, Sergio Perez¡¯ last three results at Singapore read as following:
In 2019, he scored a DNF for Racing Point (which is when he had qualified tenth, ahead of then-teammate Lance Stroll, who got sixteenth).?
A year before, i.e., the 2018 Singapore GP- Perez bagged a very lowly P16 for Force India (he had qualified 7th, had beaten then-teammate Ocon who got ninth).?
And that¡¯s not all; a year prior to the 2018 disappointment, i.e., the 2017 Singapore GP- the Mexican maverick scored a valuable and perhaps one of the most underrated P5 of his career, then with Force India.?
Through it all, having embraced eleven years of grind at the top annals of Motor Racing, having courted doubts and disappointments, Sergio Perez has emerged a driver with an unbreakable spirit and one whose victories can spur that of his team.
He¡¯s truly an asset to his co-driver. How¡¯s that? Had Perez and his show stopping albeit dramatic defending from Sir Lewis Hamilton at Abu Dhabi 2021 not happened, who knows, Verstappen would not have scored his maiden championship.
Today Mexico can certainly consider Perez for being a Minister of Defence, in lighter vein, since Perez demonstrated at Yas Marina what he¡¯s capable of.
You don¡¯t defy legends like Hamilton everyday and not amid the enormity of pressure as Abu Dhabi provided, circa the winner takes all contest of 2021.
In similar fashion, you don¡¯t collect multiple podiums at the dangerously fast street course of Azerbaijan.
But then, you cannot be Sergio Perez right? You can only dream of being that!
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