RED BULL FINED 25,000 FOR SERGIO PEREZ' ACTIONS AT CANADIAN GP

Sergio Perez had a race to forget in Canada as he retired his Red Bull car after an unprovoked collision with the wall. During the 54th lap, the Mexican went into a corner too fast before losing control of his vehicle. As he hit the barriers and wrote off the race, his frustration was clear.

Not only did Checo demolish his rear wing, but he also decided to drive back to the pits, despite his car not being in a safe state to do so, something which is against the rules in Formula 1.

The fact that he limped back to retire the car in such a condition meant that he was handed a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming Spanish Grand Prix. Not only that, though, Red Bull were also fined €25,000 for the incident by the FIA, adding salt to the wounds after having Perez not finish the race.

This was not the way that the driver would have wanted to celebrate being offered a two-year contract extension, which was confirmed in the days leading up to the Canadian Grand Prix.

What Has Been Said About Sergio Perez' Incident in Canada

After the race, Perez took to X to apologise to his team, saying: “I’m very sorry for my team, I let them down today. But we will come back, no doubt. There’s a long way to go.”

The FIA also released a full statement on the incident, in which they said: “After making contact with the barriers in Turn 6, the driver continued on track for the remainder of the lap with a significantly damaged car and thereby lost several carbon fibre parts on the way back to the pits. The team confirmed in the hearing that the driver had been advised to bring the car back to the pits as they were trying to avoid a Safety Car situation.”

Why Sergio Perez Drove His Broken Red Bull

Attempting to drive such a broken car back to the pits after crashing so early in the lap was an interesting move by Red Bull and Perez. However, it would make sense that they would want to preserve any advantage held by Max Verstappen, who was five seconds ahead of Lando Norris at the time.

Sergio Perez' 2024 season so far (as of 10/06/24)
Grand Prix	Position	Points
Bahrain	2nd	18
Saudi Arabia	2nd	18
Australia	5th	10
Japan	2nd	18
China	3rd	21
Miami	4th	18
Emilia Romagna	8th	4
Monaco	DNF	0
Canada	DNF	0

Perhaps this focus on not having a Safety Car stemmed from an earlier incident in which Norris’ 15-second advantage was essentially wiped away as a Safety Car brought Verstappen back in touching distance with the McLaren.

The eventual deployment of the Safety Car enabled a perfect finish for the neutral, with Verstappen, Norris, and George Russell all vying for the top of the podium. In the end, the Dutchman was able to hold on for the win, with Norris less than four seconds behind him.

This result leaves Perez languishing in fifth place, 87 points behind his teammate. Although the standings are tight between him (107 points) and Carlos Sainz (108 points), Oscar Piastri and Russell are starting to make a move towards the Mexican.

Alex Albon's Double Overtake at Canadian GP

Williams driver Alex Albon produced a remarkable double overtake during the Canadian Grand Prix.

If the Canadian Grand Prix is anything to go by, the McLaren and Mercedes teams are both finding their feet and beginning to trend in the right direction. The same cannot be said for Perez, however, whose last podium finish came back in April at the Chinese Grand Prix.