In an already incident-filled Canadian GP, Red Bull Racing ordered Sergio Perez to drive back to the pits with a heavily damaged rear wing. This left debris everywhere and naturally was too dangerous to the stewards’ liking. Thus, the Milton Keynes outfit earned a $26,000 fine and Perez got a three-place grid penalty for his next race.
However, veteran F1 journalist Will Buxton was not satisfied with the level of scrutiny. He expressed this opinion in a tweet and quickly deleted it. However, nothing gets past the F1 fanbase.
Buxton expressed that the penalty for letting Perez drive back to the pits in the car’s damaged condition was too lenient. In his opinion, it was endangering the drivers on the track. It was all to ensure there wasn’t another safety car with Max Verstappen in the lead on older tires. Red Bull made the call which Buxton could have been on the same level as the Crashgate incident from 2008.
As shared on Twitter (now X), a part of Buxton’s deleted tweet highlighted the similarities. It read, “The team have 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.”
“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.”
Will telling the truth then chickening out before he goes the way of Jonny Herbet.
Perhaps Horner or Benny had a word…
If only #F1 journalists were actually able to speak their minds more often, especially when you have questionable events like this and the #AbuDhabiScandal. pic.twitter.com/lymMlEuIlB
— Andrew E (@andrewje_home) June 10, 2024
A large chunk of fans instantly agreed with the comparison and reasoning. For reasons unknown, the British journalist deleted the tweet soon after posting it. However, the screenshots of the tweet will not let the opinion die down.
Fans agree with Will Buxton’s comparison of Red Bull’s Canadian GP antics to Crashgate
The fans expressed their disappointment with the fact Buxton deleted the tweet in the reactions with the screenshots popping up everywhere on X. Most of the reactions highlight the fans agreeing with the opinion and also commending the bold take.
I wonder why Will Buxton deleted this tweet… pic.twitter.com/yigmPI2xwj
— mazage6 (@mazage6) June 10, 2024
Will Buxton the only journalist in this community that is keeping it real. When can other journalists start doing the same cuz sure as hell he’s waking up. https://t.co/JHq9VeDyRz
— Robokilla516 (@robokilla570007) June 11, 2024
will buxton for the first time ever you were right and shouldn’t have deleted the tweet pic.twitter.com/W5xTHxNMHK
— val (@H44MlLTON) June 10, 2024
Will was spitting facts why’d he delete pic.twitter.com/4mwK8Kxuv1
— #PitstopFracas (@pitstopfracas) June 10, 2024
Perhaps the reason he deleted it could be to avoid tension between himself and the Austrian team. Whatever the reason was behind his actions, his opinion is now out in the open and being shared by a few.