Christian Horner finds one positive as Sergio Perez ‘gets in his own way’ in Japan

Putting in one of his worst performances on the day his team-mate sealed the Constructors’ Championship, Christian Horner says the only positive to take from Sergio Perez’s Japanese GP was “avoiding” a grid penalty for Qatar.

While Max Verstappen put in yet another flawless display at the Suzuka circuit as the reigning World Champion claimed pole position with a 1:28.877, six-tenths up on his nearest rival, Perez qualified on the third row of the grid.

In the thick of it at the start of the race, he was involved in an incident with Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz, the trio bouncing off one another as they jostled for position.

Sergio Perez went through two front wings in Japan

Perez wasn’t penalised for that one but he did have to pit for a new front wing, which dropped him close to the back of the field.

Out came the Safety Car and adding insult to injury, he was slapped with a five-second penalty for overtaking on his way into the pits.

But wait there’s more! He was given another time penalty later for causing a collision with Kevin Magnussen, Perez punting him at the Turn 11 hairpin. That necessitated another pit stop for a front wing with Red Bull retiring the car shortly after.

Perez, though, had yet to take his penalty for causing a collision forcing Red Bull to make running repairs over a 10-lap period before sending the driver back out to do a lap,pit for his penalty, and then re-retire the car.

That says Horner was the only positive for Perez.

“The only decent thing we managed to get out of today was not carrying a penalty through into the next race in Qatar,” said the Red Bull team boss.

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塞尔吉奥·佩雷斯K-Mag崩溃握着他的手

After what he billed as a “horrible start”, Perez appears to hold Sainz and Hamilton responsible for his Turn 1 antics.

He does, however, concede the crash with Magnussen was entirely his fault.

“I had a horrible start and basically going into Turn 1, I was just a passenger,” he said.

“I had Sainz on my right, Lewis on the left, and they just took the whole front wing endplate off.

“We changed the front wing and I still had no front end, so I think there were a lot more things damaged on the car.

“I was struggling quite a lot on the braking with the front end. I just wouldn’t stop in time and it was my mistake, obviously.”

Former F1 driver blames Perez for ‘impetuous’ crash

根据前F1车手专家亚历克斯·Wurz, Perez was “not fully focused on the matter” as he came to attack Magnussen for position.

Perhaps “beside himself” on a trying Sunday at Suzuka, the Austrian added: “It was simply too far back and too impetuous.

“Normally I don’t want to be so critical, but during the move I clearly recognised he was getting in his own way.”

“I have to say that honestly,” he added.

Perez’s deficitin the standingsto Japanese GP race winner Max Verstappen is up to 177 points.

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