On the Red Flags podcast, fan-favorite F1 journalist Will Buxton narrated a fascinating story about Red Bull’s #11, Sergio Perez. Speaking about the very first season of the critically acclaimed Netflix docuseries ‘Drive to Survive’, Buxton explained how his “harsh” criticism of Perez’s drive during the 2018 Singapore GP actually led the Mexican-born racing driver to confront him over breakfast.
The 43-year-old then told the hosts of the podcast how his response actually left Perez speechless! Buxton explained, “He (Perez) said, ‘Woah! You were really harsh about my driving in Singapore.'”
Buxton then replied, “Yeah, that’s because you drove like shit!” As it turns out, this response left the 34-year-old without much to respond with.
Buxton’s criticism about Sergio Perez’s 2018 outing at the Marina Bay street circuit wasn’t really all that harsh though. The #11 driver, who drove for Force India at the time, actually started the race in the points – in P7.
However, after two collisions, one with teammate Esteban Ocon and the other with Williams’ Sergey Sirotkin, he finished a disappointing 16th. Moreover, it wasn’t only Buxton who criticized Perez in the aftermath. Sky Sports F1‘s Mark Hughes also described Perez’s drive as “something of a splash in Singapore, but not in a good way.”
How bad was Sergio Perez’s 2018 Singapore GP?
Will Buxton’s comments about Sergio Perez’s Singapore GP drive prompt a second look at the race. The race started strongly for Perez who had put in a solid lap during Qualifying the previous day to start from the fourth-row of the grid. But just as the lights went out, Perez seemingly got his elbows out a bit too aggressively.
Coming out of the first chicane, Esteban Ocon was actually on the outside of Perez. Trying to make a move round the outside out of turn 2, the French racing driver’s onboard shows Perez losing traction on the exit, and turning into his teammate. As a result of the collision, Ocon was forced to retire from the race.
Meanwhile, the Mexican’s second incident was with the Williams of Sergey Sirotkin. After many laps behind the Russian driver, Perez was seemingly getting frustrated.
On lap 33, he tried to make a move stick. However, when Sirotkin almost got the place back, Perez inexplicably “turned into” the Williams, thereby giving the latter some bodywork damage, and himself a puncture.
Despite the collision, somehow Perez did manage to keep going in the race after a tire change. However, the damage sustained in these two incidents coupled with the time he had lost resulted in him only finishing in 16th and well outside the points.
