When we talk about sports, the one thing that always comes up is the team and team members. In any sport, team members are one of the most crucial parts of an athlete’s success. Formula 1 is no exception. In F1 every second matters and can decide the fate of the race. Max Verstappen knows this well enough, and this has helped him in gaining victory.

However, do you know the secret behind the Dutchman’s win last year? If you don’t, Sergio Perez has revealed it.

In the lead-up to the first Formula 1 Japan Grand Prix in three years, Honda held a “Honda Heart Formula 1 DREAM” fan meeting. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez took part to greet visitors.

There Perez revealed how he played a really crucial role in the Dutchman’s win. His tactics got appreciated by Verstappen himself, who called him “a legend“.

Perez’s fierce defense allowed Max Verstappen to cut the gap to Lewis Hamilton to just two seconds. He knew the fact that without the arrival of a safety car, Lewis would have easily won his eighth title. He said,” Lewis had a very comfortable lead, which basically will be enough to put them in a very comfortable position and have the windows under the virtual safety car, so once he was coming by, I managed to stay ahead of him. I managed to lose some important seconds you know that brought him back to Max.”

Sergio Perez felt very happy watching everybody celebrate after so long. He said, “Seeing Max and everyone celebrating after such a long intense season so yeah really really happy for that day we went through a lot of emotions but luckily it happened and it saved with our teams.”

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The year belongs to Red Bull’s dominance while Mercedes has secured P2 just three times. Even Lewis Hamilton admits that Red bull is “unbeatable” and his team needs some good fortune if they are to win a race this season. Silver Arrow is still in the hope of getting their first victory.

Lewis Hamilton Awaits for Real Potential of The Dutchman

The Mercedes driver suggests that Max Verstappen’s true potential is unclear as the Dutchman is often “chilled” at the front and not being pushed. Mercedes currently stands third in the championship, 66 points behind Ferrari. If Mercedes goes winless in the remaining races, this will be the first instance in which Sir Lewis Hamilton will fail to register a victory.

He said, “We have to be realistic, that Red Bull is almost unbeatable. It’s going to take some real doing to beat that car. Performance-wise they are fully ahead of everyone. We have not caught them, we don’t have upgrades coming to overtake them. And so it’s going to take some fortune going our way.”

However, Hamilton is optimistic about beating Red Bull in the remaining few races.

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Meanwhile, Max Verstappen, being way ahead in the driver’s standing, will hope for some more support from his teammate to wrap up winning his second championship in the Japanese GP itself.