Sergio Perez did not get on the podium at the French GP. The Mexican was expected to be there, especially after Charles Leclerc's early withdrawal. However, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to beat the Red Bull Racing driver on their own. He is not satisfied.
Sergio Perez did not get on the podium at the French GP. The Mexican was expected to be there, especially after Charles Leclerc's early withdrawal. However, Max Verstappen, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell managed to beat the Red Bull Racing driver on their own. He is not satisfied.
Russell took his position at the end of the Virtual Safety Car. Helmut Marko had already indicated that his driver was asleep, but the Mexican himself feels that he is not entirely to blame for losing his place. He points to the race direction and its unclear instructions.
"It was reported that we were going to stop at turn 9 (with the VSC), so I went there, but in the end the track was not cleared until turn 13, so I don't know exactly what they were doing," Perez said to the Viaplay camera.
The 32-year-old said he enjoyed the duel with Russell, although he felt that the Mercedes driver was a bit too aggressive at turn 8. Perez had to swerve as a result.
"It was a good battle, apart from turn 8, we were fighting for the corner and (almost) ruined our races. Other than that, it was a good battle and a good race by George. I ended up fighting with VSC. He said he would finish at turn 9, so I went for it, but it was turn 13, so I don't know what they were doing with it," Perez finished.
In a statement, the FIA confirmed that its system had a problem during the virtual Safety Car period. "A second VSC shutdown message was sent due to a hardware problem, which led to an automatic switch to backup systems that worked exactly as they should in this scenario," it stated.
"The same information is provided to all teams simultaneously. The VSC countdown time until the green light is displayed on the track panels is always random," the statement concluded.