Perez: Misinformation about the end of the VSC cost me the podium!

Author of the article: , published July 24, 2022.

Mexico's Sergio Perez claims wrong information about the end of the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) sent by the FIA ​​cost him third place at the French GP.

Perez was locked in a duel with George Russell for third place in the closing laps of the race when the race was slowed by the Virtual Safety Car due to a breakdown in the Alfa Romeo. The race resumed on lap 51, and Perez was easily overtaken by Russell when it seemed the Red Bull driver was not ready to resume normal racing.

But after the race, the Mexican explained that he had received information from the FIA ​​that the race would resume earlier than it did. The rules stipulate that the racer must be warned of the end of the VSC with a green flag 10 to 15 seconds after the message that the VSC is ending, but this time Perez got the signal almost a minute later.

"I was unlucky with the virtual safety car," said Perez, who had to settle for fourth place. “I got a message that the race would continue at the exit of turn 9, so I accelerated there and the VSC didn't finish. Then I got a message that it was going to end on the exit of turn 12, and I was too close by then. Apparently, George got different information and was better prepared for the sequel. It's a shame that VSC influenced the result in such a way."

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner explained that there was a problem with race management. “There was a problem with the system on the race management side as they couldn't turn off the VSC period so they had to restart the whole thing. Sergio announced that he had no information on the maximum permitted lap time. George either got different information or he predicted the delta time better. It will have to be looked into, but it certainly angers us, because I think Checo was fast enough to defend third place and the team would have won the double podium.”

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