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Sergio Perez has revealed he ran into various issues with the Red Bull RB20 car despite finishing the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix second.

Perez marked his highest finish since last year’s Italian Grand Prix on a dream day for Red Bull as Max Verstappen took the chequered flag out to ensure a one-two finish for the reigning World Champions.

While Verstappen beamed over the handling of his car that saw him win by over 22 seconds, Perez asserted that he had a number of problems en route to second place.

“I think it was the maximum we could have achieved,” Perez said.

“It was quite a tricky race with the management of the tyres. I think there’s plenty we will learn from tonight’s race which will be important for the championship.

“But overall, I think it’s a great way to start the season.”

Woes beyond F1 tyres

As well as having trouble with the Pirelli tyres, Perez revealed that there were deeper problems that he had to stay on top of.

“It was really compound to compound, the amount of sliding we were having,” Perez reflected.

“We were having some issues with the engine braking and the driveability, which is not easy around here because there’s plenty of low speed.

“I’m sure we’re going to analyse all of this tonight and make sure we learn for Jeddah [next week].”