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Sergio Perez feels that his block on Carlos Sainz during the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP was done 'in all fairness'. The Mexican driver started on pole in Jeddah before an inopportune safety car saw him lose places to Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen, who got free pitstops.
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Perez's Red Bull was also pipped by Sainz at the pit exit line but he forced the Ferrari wide to stay ahead. He returned the position to the Spaniard at the safety car restart before being reprimanded by the stewards.
In an interview with Motorsport.com, Perez elaborated on the incident with Sainz, saying:
“I was trying obviously to block him. Which is allowed, in terms of you are able to cross the safety car line. So I felt everything was done in all fairness. The team told me to give back, so I gave it back straight after the safety car. I mean, they have more information, inside the car you don’t know where you exactly are for safety car line one. So yeah, in that regard, I felt it was the right thing to do.”
That move saw Perez drop to P4. Consequently, the 32-year-old was unable to convert his maiden F1 pole into a podium or more while Verstappen went on to win.
"Bad luck, bad timing" - Sergio Perez on Nicholas Latifi's crash in Jeddah
Sergio Perez called Nicholas Latifi's crash during the 2022 Saudi Arabian GP a case of bad luck and bad timing for himself.
After the ensuing safety car saw him drop out of contention for the win, the Mexican lamented the missed opportunity, saying:
“Bad luck, bad timing. I felt I had the race pretty much under control, and then came this incident from [Nicholas] Latifi. And basically it hurt me and it just came at the wrong point of the race for me. I mean, as a driver, there’s nothing you could do. We had everything in place, plenty of margin for the undercuts, and unfortunately, we couldn’t execute what we should.”
Perez is currently P7 in the world drivers' standings with 14 points to his name. He will be hoping to add to his and Red Bull's tally when F1 returns with the 2022 Australian GP.
