WATCH: Sergio Perez Asks Race Engineer About Verstappen’s Setting Before Sliding Off in Imola

Sergio Perez had quite a disappointing day in the office at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. He got a great start and helped teammate Max Verstappen sandwich Lewis Hamilton. Unfortunately, his pace did not last, and he eventually tumbled down the order.

Sometime during the race, Perez slithered off the track during the Safety Car period. Around that time, he was deep in conversation with his pit crew about his race settings. Red Bull informed the Mexican that Verstappen had a -3 setting on his brake bias. In reply, Perez enquired about Verstappen’s torque and was told that it was in the same position.

For the sake of clarification, the Dutchman was running on torque 6 setting. Sergio Perez soon confirmed that he wanted the same settings as his teammate. Unfortunately, he got a little distracted and took a bumpy trip through the gravel. In the process, he lost positions to a McLaren and an AlphaTauri.

Sergio Perez then made a huge mistake

To make matters worse, he went on to overtake the two cars and regain track position. Unfortunately for Sergio ‘Checo’ Perez, he had not been given permission to regain his position. In essence, he overtook while behind the Safety Car, which is not permitted according to the rules.

In the end, the second Red Bull driver ended up outside the points. He finished in 11th place on the track, around half a second away from the points. Apparently, the Alpine duo of Esteban Ocon and Fernando Alonso were battling with Perez for the final two points. In the end, he failed to overtake both Alpine drivers. This also meant that Verstappen had to shoulder the burden alone.

Of course, this will probably not sit well with the Red Bull team. They will expect the Mexican driver to pull his weight and help them in the constructor’s championship.

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