F1 insider faces backlash for comparing Red Bull instructions for Sergio Perez in Canada to Crashgate scandal, deletes post later

Renowned F1 figure Will Buxton was subjected to an enormous backlash after he compared FIA's recent judgment on Sergio Perez with that of Renault's Crashgate Scandal. Buxton, who quote-tweeted F1's post on Perez, went on to delete it from X soon after.

Following the eventful Canadian GP in Montreal, the FIA handed Perez a three-place grid penalty for the next race, along with a $26,000 fine for Red Bull. This did not seem to sit well with the British journalist. He went on to compare Perez's incident with Nelson Piquet Jr.'s deliberate crash in Singapore back in 2008.

"Personally I don’t think the repercussions for the team are anywhere near enough. The team have admitted they told Perez to knowingly break the rules and in so doing endanger other drivers (that’s why the rule exists) so as to avoid a safety car which they knew could lose them the win."

However, that was not all. The F1TV presenter had something more in mind and interestingly, that created all the problems for him. According to Buxton, Sergio Perez's punishment did not fit the transgression, which is why he felt a comparison to the 2008 Singapore GP was necessary.

"Reverse the outcome of the reasoning and you have a team telling a driver to break the rules to create a safety car to help them win. It’s a few degrees of separation. One is a grid drop and a fine. The other is Singapore '08."

Following this, the 43-year-old faced a backlash on social media and subsequently deleted the post. In 2008, Renault ordered Piquet Jr. to crash against the wall intentionally for the benefit of teammate Fernando Alonso, who went on to win that race.

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Why did the FIA penalize Sergio Perez?

Following the conclusion of the 2024 Canadian Grand Prix, the Stewards called Sergio Perez and a team representative to investigate the Mexican driver's on-track ordeal. In Lap 53 of 70, Perez spun off and hit the barrier at turn 5 and this damaged his RB20's rear wing heavily.

Considering the situation, Red Bull asked Perez to bring the car back to the pit lane and avoid a safety car situation. The Milton Keynes-based team later accepted that they made the decision to avoid a safety car situation, which could have jeopardized Max Verstappen's race win.

However, the Stewards deemed the action too dangerous, and held that Sergio Perez breached F1 Sporting Regulations' Article 26.10 which states,

"If a driver has serious mechanical difficulties, he must leave the track as soon as it is safe to do so."

Since Red Bull and Sergio Perez did not comply with the rule, the officials handed the Mexican driver the aforementioned grid penalty.