Sergio Perez racing in the Red Bull RB20.
Formula 1 presenter Will Buxton claimed a Red Bull fine and Sergio Perez grid drop was not “anywhere near enough” of a punishment after the Canadian GP incident, even dropping a reference to the ‘Crashgate’ scandal.
Perez spun off on Lap 53 of 70 at the Canadian Grand Prix, sliding backwards into the barriers at Turn 5 and wrecking his rear wing. Perez would return to the track and trundle back to the pits to retire, that process having resulted in a three-place grid penalty for Perez at the next race in Spain, plus a €25,000 fine for Red Bull.
Will Buxton hits out at Red Bull verdict
Perez violated Article 26.10 of F1’s Sporting Regulations when he drove his damaged car back to the pits instead of leaving the track promptly and safely as required.
As a result of this, the stewards decided to impose a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix, while Red Bull received a fine for instructing Perez to return his RB20 to the pit lane. In the end, Max Verstappen from Red Bull emerged as the champion of the Canadian Grand Prix.
According to Buxton, the punishment is inadequate for the wrongdoing committed. He goes as far as suggesting that there is only a small difference between this incident and the notorious “Crashgate” scandal during the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix. In that scandal, Renault instructed Nelson Piquet Jr to crash in order to benefit his teammate Fernando Alonso, who ultimately won the race.
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“On his X [previously known as Twitter] account, Buxton expressed his personal belief that the consequences for the team are inadequate.”
“The team has confessed to instructing Perez to intentionally violate the rules, thereby putting other drivers at risk (which is precisely why the rule was put in place), in order to prevent a safety car situation that they were aware could cost them the victory.”
If you reverse the outcome of the reasoning, you would find a scenario where a team instructs a driver to violate the rules in order to deliberately cause a safety car situation and secure a victory. The consequences of such actions can range from a grid penalty and a monetary penalty to a situation similar to the events that transpired in Singapore in 2008.
Afterwards, in another post, he made it clear when a fan questioned if the action had resemblances to ‘Crashgate’: “I am definitely not stating that it was intentional. The only similarity is that it involves a team instructing a driver to break the rules with the intention of affecting the deployment of a safety car. I find it intriguing that Red Bull would openly confess their thought process on this matter.”
In Canada, Perez experienced yet another disappointing race weekend despite recently securing a new multi-year deal with Red Bull.
Since the Chinese Grand Prix in April, he has been without a podium.
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