How triple-penalised Perez’s latest nightmare race unfolded
Perez was forced to start Sunday's race from the pitlane after Red Bull breached F1 regulations by effectively building a third car in the wake of extensive damage he picked up in a three-car collision in Saturday’s sprint race.
The Mexican battled his way into the top-10 but was hit with a trio of five-second time penalties for leaving the track multiple times and exceeding track limits.
It meant that while he finished ninth on the road, Perez ended up being demoted back to 10th after the chequered flag.
It rounded out a disastrous weekend for Perez, who only managed 13th for Sunday’s race in Friday qualifying after being pinged for track limits, before he crashed out of the sprint.
To rub salt into his wounds, Perez was lapped by teammate Max Verstappen, though he was able to get back onto the lead lap, but only when the Dutchman made his third and final pit stop. In total, he finished over 80 seconds behind.
Following an equally-torrid Japanese Grand Prix, Perez’s latest performance will only place further scrutiny on his position at Red Bull.
Perez holds a contract for next season but his underwhelming displays alongside Verstappen this year have brought his future into the spotlight.
While Verstappen claimed his 14th win from 17 races in Qatar, Perez has only been victorious twice and now sits a whopping 208 points behind the newly-crowned three-time world champion.
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