Why did Red Bull send Perez back onto the track in Japan?
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F1 News
Red Bull Racing took the constructors' title in Japan for the second year in a row but also did something else remarkable. The Austrian team sent Sergio Perez back onto the track, many laps after the Mexican had already parked his RB19 in the garage and thus seemed to end his race. Nothing could be further from the truth, as Perez eventually re-entered the track (briefly), but why really?
Perez has disaster race in Japan
Perez's race in Japan came to an early end after several incidents. After contact with Lewis Hamilton at the start of the race, the Mexican had damage to his front wing, forcing the Red Bull driver to come inside. This forced Perez to start a catch-up race in Japan, but that soon went wrong. When overtaking Kevin Magnussen, Perez made a mistake, and there was contact again. This time, the contact caused such damage that it was decided to stop Perez's race.
The reason why Perez re-entered the track in Japan
The incident with Magnussen left Perez with a five-second time penalty, but because the Mexican had already crashed out, he could not serve this penalty. That could have had consequences for the next Grand Prix in Qatar because of article 54.3 in the FIA regulations.
Indeed, this article says the following: "If any of the four (4) penalties above [five-second or 10-second time penalty, a drive-through or a stop/go] are imposed upon a driver, and that driver is unable to serve the penalty due to retirement from the sprint session or the race, the stewards may impose a grid place penalty on the driver at his next race."
By sending Perez out and performing a pit stop anyway, Red Bull ensured that the Mexican did serve his five-second time penalty. The purpose of this was thus to avoid any consequences for the Qatar Grand Prix.
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2 July 2024
