Helmut Marko is unimpressed with Sergio Perez who was easily overtaken by George Russell after a late Virtual Safety car.
Helmut Marko dreamt of a Red Bull double podium finish. But his hopes were soon dashed out when Sergio Perez was caught napping in the middle of the race.
Charles Leclerc started the 2022 French GP on Pole. Behind him were Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez who had qualified P2 and P3.
The Red Bull duo were keen on keeping the pressure on the lone Ferrari. But Perez was caught off guard in the race start. The Mexican lost a position to Lewis Hamilton who claimed 3rd.
However, on lap 19, Max was gifted the lead of the race after Charles Leclerc lost control of his Ferrari F1-75. He spun out and crashed into the barrier, retiring early.
However, on the 50th lap, a Virtual Safety car was introduced for a couple of laps after Zhou Guanyu’s DNF. Perez had been constantly defending George Russell. But the Mexican went wide at turn 14.
The moment of contact between Sergio Perez and George Russell! 💥#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/wNtGn73cK9
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
And 4th placed Russell seized the opportunity. Russell finished the race P3, giving Mercedes their first double podium of the year.
Marko claimed they had instructed Perez earlier itself to avoid taking a longer route as the VSC was ending. He said, “We said before the start ‘don’t go around the outside in that corner, it is not possible,”
He joked, “Sergio seemed to have fallen asleep at the Virtual Safety Car restart. Maybe he drank tequila last night.” However, the Austrian was clearly not impressed by the Mexican’s lack of awareness.
Also Read: Fernando Alonso intentionally slowed down to spoil McLaren drivers’ tyres at French GP
Sergio Perez was fooled by the wrong VSC ending message
Although Helmut Marko asserted Sergio Perez was slacking. Perez blamed the hardware for being unaware of when the Virtual Safety Car was ending.
Perez said he received a message at the end of turn 9 that the VSC will be ending this lap. At that time George Russell pulled back to maintain his Delta.
Podium number 4 for @GeorgeRussell63 in 2022! 💫#FrenchGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/fWwTWzFlhB
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 24, 2022
Perez anticipated the message saying it was going to end by turn 11. But the message finally reached him at turn 12 when it was too late. Russell managed to overtake in turn 14 as he received his message on time.
“It was really unfortunate what happened with the VSC,” claimed Perez. “It’s a shame that the virtual safety car interfered in the result. It shouldn’t be the case. But it was.”
Also Read: Charles Leclerc has lost whopping 75 points from winning positions in the 2022 season so far
