Sergio Perez collected three time penalties at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, which dropped him to 10th following a pit-lane start as he deemed the track limits impossible to judge.
The Mexican accumulated 15 seconds worth of penalties around the Losail International Circuit for repeat offences concerning track limits, totalling six infringements.
He was one of several drivers to accumulate penalties, including Lance Stroll and Pierre Gasly, who both received two each, as drivers collectively crossed the white lines 50 times at 10 of the 16 corners.
“It was impossible to see that I was taking so much margin,” Perez said to media after the race. “I was giving up so much lap time for it, but you still got more [penalties].
“For me it was very difficult to judge, but there were drivers who were able to do. I don’t think I did a good enough job in that regard, but I think it was a joke, what we end up doing with track limits.”
Perez also commented on F1 and Pirelli‘s plan to counter microscopic, but significant, damage to the tyres caused by Turns 12-13. The corners were re-profiled ahead of the Sprint Race, being moved back by 0.8m.
“I think it’s really bad that we came up with a solution last minute and then to realised that and start giving penalties away.”
Perez feels he let the team down
With a DNF to his name and a 10th-place finish in the two races, it wasn’t the finest weekend of Perez‘s career. Further adding to the misery was the moment that Max Verstappen came up to lap him, rather symbolising the differences of their form in 2023.
Perez knows that he was below the standard expected of him and is focusing on future races to make up to his Red Bull crew.
“As you can imagine, it was already long afternoon,” Perez added. “I’m very disappointed that I let my team down. It was a very poor weekend.
“Overall, with the incident on Saturday just made it even worse on Sunday. There are plenty of things to look at to make sure that we put everything in place for the upcoming races.”
