Perez gives a remarkable explanation to the strange moment in the pit lane

It looked like Sergio Perez was asleep at the start of the sprint race in Qatar, but it appears to have been all on purpose. The light at the end of the pit lane had been turned green but Perez, who like Franco Colapinto started from the pit lane, did not leave immediately. The Mexican explained to Viaplay that it was done that way on purpose.

Perez was asked about the strange moment during the start of the sprint race in Qatar. "The main objective of today was to get as much clear air as possible. And we were not in a hurry really to leave, because we wanted to have a lot of clear air as much as possible, to get a read on the car changes," he said.

Did Perez do it on purpose?

He was then asked again if he did that on purpose. “Correct, yes. He was more in a hurry than us, and it was not the priority," Perez said. Red Bull said after the session that it was helpful to modify Perez’s car and take him out of Parc Fermé from a strategic point of view.

Perez had a dramatic qualifying session on Friday, as he did not escape SQ1. Changes were made to the RB20's setup during the Parc Fermé, forcing him to start from the pit lane on Saturday.

This article has been created in collaboration with Matt Gretton