Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Singapore, 2022

Perez has “no idea” what prompted Safety Car investigation which put win in doubt

2022 Singapore Grand Prix

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Singapore Grand Prix winner Sergio Perez said he does not know why he is under investigation by the stewards for a Safety Car infringement.

Perez led almost the entire race after passing Charles Leclerc off the line at the start. He kept the Ferrari driver at bay as he pressured him for the lead at various stages of the race.

Before the second Safety Car restart, Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both accused Perez of falling more than the required 10 car lengths behind the Safety Car before its lights were extinguished. “The lights haven’t gone out yet and he’s pulled a big gap,” said Hamilton on his radio.

Perez held onto the race lead after the restart and subsequent third Safety Car period to take his second victory of the season. He won by over seven seconds after pulling out a gap in the closing laps.

Asked about his investigation after the race, Perez said he had “no idea what’s going on”, but was told to pull out a gap over Leclerc in case he receives a penalty.

“They just told me that I was under investigation, so increase the gap and that’s what we did,” Perez said.

With team mate Max Verstappen battling in the midfield during the race, Perez ensured Red Bull’s winning streak continued by holding off the Ferrari to take his first win since the Monaco Grand Prix in May, and his fourth career victory.

“It was certainly, I think, my best performance,” he said. “I controlled the race, although the warm-up was pretty difficult. The last few laps were so intense.

“I didn’t feel it that much in the car, but when I got out of it, I felt it. I pushed, I gave everything for the win today.”

Perez’s victory means his team mate Verstappen will have to wait a race for his next chance to seal the world championship. However Perez believes that will be a fitting place for him to clinch the title as it is the home event for the team’s power unit designers.

“I think it’s nicer for Max to get it in Japan, for the team,” said Perez. “It would be very special for Honda.”

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2022 Singapore Grand Prix

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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6 comments on “Perez has “no idea” what prompted Safety Car investigation which put win in doubt”

  1. Of course, he is under investigation for being the wrong red bull to win dammit!

  2. I want to know why it’s taking them hours to investigate this. Are they getting lawyers involved or something? Seems ridiculous how they can’t make a decision.

    1. As it is contentious and not obvious from the camera feeds they have access to, they need to download the GPS information from the Safety Car and the RB18 and compare the data. Takes a while

      1. Coventry Climax
        3rd October 2022, 0:24

        Which means they should learn and take measures so this will be much, much faster in the future. Somehow though, I have a feeling this will not happen.

  3. A side point, I can’t stand when drivers get alongside the safety car and try to bully it into going faster. It’s the safety staff that might save their life one day. They can clearly deal with the cold tyres and pressures and it’s the same for everyone. That’s penalty worthy for me but they would have to make it a rule first.

  4. That seems like a flat-out lie now after we’ve heard the official statement. It was the same violation for the first safety car as well as the second, and Checo was actually instructed by race direction to keep closer to the SC in both instances. How can he say he has ‘no idea’ what this is all about…

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