Formula 1: Perez is annoyed by Verstappen’s tactical stunt in Jeddah for the fastest lap

The fastest lap of an F1 race awards a point to anyone who achieves it and this was the only contest between Sergio Perez, who dominated the race at Jeddah, and Max Verstappen, who finished 15th overall to match his counterpart in the other Red Bull RB19 .

Perez had set the fastest time up until the penultimate lap of the race, meaning he would take the points lead from Verstappen by a point. But on the last lap it was the Dutchman who took the risk and set the fastest lap – but in a way that irked Perez.

The Mexican said he received “other information” from the Red Bull pit wall. In particular, Red Bull urged its two drivers to aim for a safe lap time of 1:33.0 on the final lap to avoid any last-minute surprises.

Perez had chosen to follow the order, but not Verstappen: he took a risk on the last lap and set a time close to 1:31 to snatch the fastest lap and thus the championship lead from the Mexican. When RBR asked Verstappen over the radio if he had received and accepted the order for 1:33.0, he received no reply.

Verstappen’s radio silence forced the team to send a new message telling them the new target for the final lap time was 1:32.6, confusing the Mexican. This confusion was compounded when the team finally told him that he could push as hard as he wanted on the last lap.

In that mess, Perez got off to an awkward start on the final lap while Verstappen clocked a time 3 tenths off the Mexican’s previous fastest lap to eventually take the extra point. “I asked a few laps before the end [την ομάδα] What is the fastest lap time?the Dutchman explained at the end.

And he continued: “First of all, we were free to compete. And of course we had a time target for the last lap, but as you know, it’s a point. The same thing happened in Bahrain, I asked. When the battle is just between two cars, I think it’s normal to ask who has the fastest lap.

Perez, on the other hand, seemed annoyed at how it turned out in the end: “With two laps to go I was asked to keep a certain pace, I was told to have the fastest lap and to keep a certain pace. I thought the communication was the same for Max, so we need to see that. Because there is no doubt that I received other information, so that in the end I was not able to assert myself.” said the Mexican.

For his part, team manager Christian Horner explained: “Both drivers have received information that Czeko [Πέρεζ] had the fastest lap at that time, [ο Πέρεζ] he asked who it was [ο χρόνος], so it was obvious why he was asking. He knew Max would claim him, and Checo finally let it go after the first two rounds. He was already a tenth and a half away and we saw him slow down.

“Inevitably, as Max said on the radio, the fastest lap mark meant a lot to him. And there was no reason not to let him or Czeko try to hit him.”concluded the Brit.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko also believes that Verstappen has done nothing wrong: “Both asked what the fastest lap time was. We informed them and gave no orders not to try him.

“Max waited until the end, he didn’t play any tricks on the Czech, he did it tactically very well. Perez just couldn’t react. We couldn’t control something like that. That’s just Max. For him, it was all about leading the league.”concluded the Austrian.

Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool