Tyre straits

Some Alonso intimidation at the start of the Chinese GP would haunt Pérez for the rest of the race

- Mark Hughes

Sergio Pérez’s third place in China, behind Lando Norris’s McLaren, has to be counted as a disappointing result for the Mexican, given how dominant his Red Bull team-mate Max Verstappen was in victory. But as well as acknowledging the extraordinary level Verstappen is operating at, it was also something of a confluence of unfortunate circumstances for Pérez. He was effectively fighting two different strategies in different parts of his race, those of Fernando Alonso and Norris. This had a snowballing effect on his race.