Red Bull F1 driver Sergio Perez has revealed his frustration with the FIA following an incident at the Mexico City Grand Prix, where he clashed with fellow driver Liam Lawson without any penalties being given to the latter.
Perez started his home race from 18th position following a difficult qualifying session, which was his worst in Mexico since joining Red Bull in 2021. The session was plagued by braking issues in his Red Bull RB20 car. To add to his troubles, Perez received a five-second penalty at the start of the race for being improperly positioned in his grid box.
The key incident that has caught the spotlight involves an on-track tussle with Liam Lawson, who is pinned as a potential successor to the Mexican driver next year. Perez was in the process of overtaking Lawson for 10th position on Lap 11 when he found himself pushed wide and sustaining significant damage to his car’s side.
Whilst speaking to the media after the race, Perez explained:
“I think we were looking great at the start, at the beginning, although with the penalty I think we should have scored points today.
“We were making progress, we were about to get into the points early on in the race with Liam. I had the position, I was ahead into Turn 5 – he was off the track getting back, I wasn’t expecting him just to carry on straight.
“He took the whole side of the car off, but I don’t think it’s his fault because he doesn’t get any penalty.
“He did the same to Fernando [Alonso] last weekend, he did the same to Franco [Colapinto] at the end of the race and no penalty, so maybe depends who you are [in terms of] the penalty you get.”
The lack of a penalty for Lawson is a sore point for Perez, who believes the incident needlessly ruined their races.
“Yeah, I just told him I think we ruined both our races – I was ahead, there was no need to come together at that point. It was Lap 11 of the race, just compromising our race, both of us. I don’t think it was a very clever move.”
Despite the intense scrutiny surrounding his future with Red Bull, Perez holds a two-year contract extension with the Austrian team. However, questions about his future persist, particularly with Lawson showing strong potential and being considered for a Red Bull seat in 2025.
2024 Mexican Grand Prix Results
1. Carlos Sainz
2. Lando Norris
3. Charles Leclerc – Fastest Lap
4. Lewis Hamilton
5. George Russell
6. Max Verstappen
7. Kevin Magnussen
8. Oscar Piastri
9. Nico Hulkenberg
10. Pierre Gasly
11. Lance Stroll
12. Franco Colapinto
13. Esteban Ocon
14. Valtteri Bottas
15. Zhou Guanyu
16. Liam Lawson
17. Sergio Perez
18. Fernando Alonso – DNF
19. Alex Albon – DNF
20. Yuki Tsunoda – DNF
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