Checo Pérez at the Japanese Grand Prix: One to forget
Checo Pérez at the Japanese Grand Prix had mixed feelings, as he couldn’t complete the race, but his team secured the championship in advance.
On the other hand, his teammate, Max Verstappen, had a nearly perfect race and added another victory to his record.
The Japanese Grand Prix was a chaotic experience for the Mexican driver, Sergio Pérez.
Checo Pérez had a poor start at the Japanese GP, faced bad luck, attempted frustrating overtakes, had to rejoin the track to serve a penalty, and ended up without any points.
The Red Bull driver had a forgettable Sunday in Suzuka; essentially, everything went wrong for him.
In the qualifying session, although he made some progress, he could only secure the fifth spot on the grid, which promised a challenging start, and that’s precisely what happened.
Checo, positioned on the outside, struggled in the congestion caused by Carlos Sainz’s attack. Sainz went for the center of the track as soon as the green lights appeared, gained better traction, and placed himself between Leclerc and Pérez.
Checo Pérez was still in shock when Lewis Hamilton positioned his Mercedes beside Red Bull number 11 on the outside.
Checo Pérez made a move to the left before turn 1, and upon contact with Hamilton, damaged the nose of his car.
It’s clear that now the goal of the other drivers is to prevent Checo Pérez from becoming the runner-up.
Everything is almost settled in favor of Max Verstappen, who was dominant in Japan.
At that point, Checo fell to seventh place, a yellow flag was raised due to the debris from his car and Valtteri Bottas‘ Alfa Romeo, which was also involved in a collision at the start.
Checo Pérez at the Japanese Grand Prix: Unusual
At that moment, the Guadalajara-born driver visited the pits for the first time to change the front part of his car.
Before entering the pits, with the Virtual Safety Car in effect, he overtook the car in front of him before entering Pit Lane, resulting in a 5-second penalty.
Starting from the back, Pérez tried to make up ground as quickly as possible. He managed to pass Alex Albon and Zhou Guanyu but got stuck behind Esteban Ocon’s Alpine.
In a mistimed maneuver at the ‘hairpin,’ Checo Pérez attempted to overtake Kevin Magnussen on the inside and ended up colliding with him, resulting in an obvious penalty.
Pérez’s RB19 suffered further damage, leading him to pit for the second time.
He served his first 5-second penalty but still didn’t know that the race stewards would impose an additional penalty for the contact with Magnussen.
Once back on the track, Checo’s car was no longer in a drivable condition, and the team decided to retire it after only 14 laps.
However, Checo Pérez returned to his car at the Suzuka Grand Prix to serve a 5-second penalty.
Why, when he had no chance of scoring points? The answer is to fulfill the penalty and carry it over to the next Grand Prix in Qatar, where it might affect his starting position.
Before doing so, they had to consult with the FIA to ensure it was allowed and to make sure it wouldn’t affect anyone else’s race and would be done under the safest conditions.
There, sitting in the cockpit of the car, Checo spent 11 laps, which felt more like a punishment or torture for his performance.
On lap 40 out of 53, while Verstappen was giving a masterclass, the McLarens were easily escorting him, and the Mercedes cars were battling each other, Checo Pérez returned to the track to complete two very painful laps.
The first was to immediately return to the pits and serve the 5-second penalty, and the second was just to retire the car.
Checo Pérez at the Japanese Grand Prix: You must rethink everything and continue; the runner-up position is at stake.
“It was a difficult start because as soon as I released the clutch, I started to spin because the tires had cooled down significantly. I had no traction, and then, as I approached the first corner, Sainz and Hamilton sandwiched me, and I got stuck in the middle,” expressed the Mexican driver to FOX Sports Mexico.
