F1 Expert Believes Sergio Perez’s 3-Place Grid Penalty Isn’t Enough Punishment for ‘Breaking the Rules’ in Canada

Sergio Perez has found himself in hot waters after getting a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming Spanish GP. The Mexican driver drove back to the pits with a “significantly damaged car” during the Canadian Grand Prix. This was an offense that got Red Bull fined €25,000 ($26,935).

During the race in Montreal, Perez crashed into the barriers at turn six on lap 53, damaging his rear wing. Despite the damage, he continued driving around the track, shedding debris, before eventually retiring in the pits. According to Article 26.10 of the sporting regulations, a driver with serious mechanical difficulties must leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so.

However, the Mexican driver continued driving, which posed a potential hazard to other drivers. Following a post-race hearing, the Stewards revealed that Red Bull had advised Perez to bring the car back to the pits to avoid a potential safety car situation if he stopped on track.

This decision did not sit well with British journalist and Formula 1 presenter Will Buxton, who believes the penalty is far too lenient.

He expressed his thoughts on social media platform X, stating,

“Personally, I don’t think the repercussions for the team are anywhere near enough. The team has admitted they told Perez to knowingly break the rules and in so doing endanger other drivers (that’s why the rule exists) so as to avoid a safety car which they knew could lose them the win.”

Buxton also drew a parallel [in his now-deleted tweet] to the infamous ‘Crashgate’ scandal during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, where Nelson Piquet Jr. deliberately crashed to bring out a safety car, aiding his teammate’s victory.

Buxton noted, “Reverse the outcome of the reasoning and you have a team telling a driver to break the rules to create a safety car to help them win. It’s a few degrees of separation. One is a grid drop and a fine. The other is Singapore 08.” The Milton Keynes squad must have been desperate to get back to winning ways after a difficult run of races in the last month or so.

Red Bull was willing to pay the price for Max Verstappen’s victory in Canada

Red Bull’s motive for avoiding a safety car was to protect Max Verstappen’s lead in the race. At that moment, Verstappen was leading, and a safety car would have bunched up the pack, increasing the risk of him losing his position. The team was particularly wary of the rapid pace of the McLaren and Mercedes cars behind Verstappen.

If either of those cars had overtaken Max at the safety car restart, the victory would more than likely have slipped from their grasp. Although the Dutchman eventually won the Canadian GP, his victory margin was a slim 3.8 seconds. It was far from the dominant lead of close to 18 to 20 seconds he had earlier in the season.

As Formula 1 heads into the European leg of the championship, fans will be eager to see if the RB20 will return to its early season dominance in the hands of the reigning world champion.