Sergio Perez accepts that penalty he had in F1 Saudi Arabian GP was correct as he notes that team told him to hold back.
Red Bull’s Perez was having a sound outing in F1 Saudi Arabian GP in 1-2 formation, close to teammate Max Verstappen after holding fort against Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc. The safety car forced the team to a double-stop with the Dutchman first up.
Perez already lost time and string of cars followed him in the pits. He then jumped out and almost had contact with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso. He subsequently received a 5s time penalty for unsafe release which carried penalty points too.
So much so, that he now has eight points and still has time until Singapore GP for any of it to clear out. He needs to be careful in the months ahead as he is only four away from getting a race ban. Nevertheless, Perez accepted his mistake in the release situation.
He noted that his team asked him to hold back but because he did not see any mechanics around, he left off only to realise his mistake. And so, he feels the penalty was right. “It was quite a bit more chaotic,” said Perez. “I had a great start. Unfortunately, I couldn’t keep ahead of Charles because he kept it there and obviously I gave him the space into Turn 2 and it was his corner then in Turn 4.
“So that was a nice start, good start once again. And from then on, I was able to get through Charles, I think within two or three laps. And then it was looking good, the race. I was within three seconds from Max, and I think the degradation on that Medium stint was looking quite good.
“But unfortunately, then we were compromised with such an early Safety Car, and that meant that basically everyone just pitted. And when I was going out, it was actually my mistake, because I was told by the team to hold it back. I saw that I didn’t have the proper release. But I didn’t see anyone.
“Sometimes the team can be a little bit slower than you in the car. This time was the other way around, so, my bad in that one. In hindsight, I looked on the right and there was nobody there when I looked as I said. I think the penalty was correct and that pretty much compromised our race,” summed up Perez.
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on individuals in the team
Here’s Sergio Perez, Charles Leclerc on their fight
Here’s Christian Horner baring it all
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