“Very weak" Perez reveals full impact of illness: ‘High fevers, no sleep’

The Mexican impressively recovered from a nightmarish qualifying as he rose from 15th on the grid to beat Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to the final spot on the podium behind Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc. 

Perez’s weekend started on the back foot when he was forced to miss Thursday’s media day due to becoming unwell with a fever. 

Speaking after Sunday’s 71-lap race, Perez revealed the true impact of his illness during a gruelling weekend that featured two qualifying sessions and a sprint race. 

"I'm really happy. It's been a very difficult weekend for me personally, physically,” Perez explained. 

"I have been really, really weak. I was sick on Thursday. So, it hasn't been an easy weekend.

"High fevers, no sleep, during the weekend. So, a great recovery from the team, fantastic strategy and we had great pace.”

Another dominant weekend from Verstappen has seen the Dutchman open up a huge 81-point buffer over his teammate, but Perez was pleased to finally put his difficult run of form behind him. 

"It's been a bit of a rough patch for me,” he said. “So, now, hopefully we are back and we can keep those positions here now."