16 Years After Schumacher’s ‘Guilty’ Act, Perez Went Unpunished for the Same to Verstappen’s Displeasure

It happened in 2006. It happened in 2014. Did it happen in 2022 as well? If there’s one thing that Formula 1 drivers don’t question, it’s that qualifying at the Monaco GP is the most important qualifying session of the season. Because of how unforgiving the track is, one mistake can ruin a driver’s lap. But here’s the catch: that mistake usually ruins other trailing drivers’ laps as well. If there’s one venue on the calendar where drivers wouldn’t want their lap times disrupted, it’s Monte Carlo. But because of how much power a leading driver invariably has during qualifying, many have tested it out—some facing the consequences, and some getting away scot-free.

In 2006, Michael Schumacher was found guilty of exploiting this aspect that’s so classically Circuit de Monaco. But what’s interesting is that last season, Sergio Perez might’ve followed suit to get the upper hand on Max Verstappen and gotten away with it.

The FIA didn’t even bat an eye toward Sergio Perez

Rewind to 2006. Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in a Renault were fighting each other for the title. In the top-10 shootout during qualifying in Monaco, Schumacher was on the provisional pole after the first runs. In the final flying laps, though, Schumacher “accidentally” parked his car at Turn 17 (La Rascasse), ensuring none of the drivers behind him could improve their times, including Alonso. When the FIA investigated the incident after qualifying, it found the Ferrari driver guilty of deliberately “crashing,” demoting him to the back of the field.

A similar incident happened in 2014 when Nico Rosberg (on provisional pole ahead of Lewis Hamilton) couldn’t make the Mirabeau corner (Turn 7) and had to use the escape road. After the session, the FIA—unlike in 2006—found Rosberg not guilty. Coming to the Perez situation. While his 2022 Monaco GP win was a masterclass, Red Bull was left questioning his qualifying antics. Again, during the final flying laps in Q3, Perez—surprisingly ahead of Max Verstappen in qualifying—crashed his car at Portier (Turn 8), bringing out the Red Flag and ruining everyone’s final flying laps.

Read More: “All My Fault”: 1 Year After Monaco Glory Tainted With Conspiracy, Sergio Perez Gets Consoled by Red Bull Boss in Post-race Apology

As per Mark Hughes’ book, Unstoppable: The Ultimate Biography of Max Verstappen, it’s come to light that Perez knew what he was doing. Hughes wrote, “Unlike with Rosberg, Perez wasn’t even called to the stewards to explain. But what the team and Verstappen saw on his telemetry and in-car footage left them in little doubt. They believed Perez had deliberately crashed, with an untypical full-throttle application very early in the corner and little apparent attempt to control the resultant power slide.” Verstappen & Co. seemingly had evidence to prove Perez’s wrong intentions, but the FIA did nothing about it, unlike in 2006 and 2014. With driver intentions always in question at Monaco, Oscar Piasri devised a solution.

Oscar Piastri’s solution to get rid of Monaco’s “ambiguity”

Although Perez’s crash didn’t result in the Mexican securing pole position (like Schumacher and Rosberg did), he had just the two Ferraris ahead of him on Sunday as the lights went out. With Verstappen in P4 behind him, all he had to do was drive a clean race to keep the Dutchman behind. Owing to Ferrari’s strategy blunders, the Mexican got his first-ever Monaco win (which helped his case with Red Bull renewing his contract).

Appearing in a YouTube video on P1 With Matt and Tommy’s channel, Oscar Piastri was asked what rule he’d change in F1. He said, “I think a lot of other series have the ‘if you cause a red flag in qualifying, you get your lap deleted’ rule. I think that would be good. I’ve been in series where that’s been the case, and I think it just gets rid of a lot of ambiguity on ‘Was it accidentally or on purpose?’ It also just punishes you a bit for making a mistake, so I think that could be a good rule.” 

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Do you think Sergio Perez crashed deliberately at the 2022 Monaco GP like Schumacher did in 2006?