F1, Ferrari: Mattia Binotto is peremptory on Perez case

Binotto doesn’t mince words

FIA race commissioners failed to conclude their investigation into Sergio Perez and his alleged rule violations under the Safety car before the conclusion of the Singapore Grand Prix, which the Mexican finished ahead of everyone at the checkered flag ahead of Ferrari’s two drivers, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

The postponement of the final decision until after the race has not a little upset the Cavallino’s Team principal, Mattia Binotto, who at the microphones of ‘Sky’ was categorical: “Perez is under investigation for two infractions at two different moments behind the Safety car – he began -. He was too far away from the safety car, he did it twice. I think of a similar incident in 2020, when Antonio Giovinazzi was given a 5-second penalty, but in general the regulations talk about 5 seconds, 10 seconds or drive through. We expect an immediate decision, it is a pity that it did not come during the race. If it affected us? I would say yes, Charles wore the fronts more in trying to pass Perez, being behind him for several laps.”

This is not the first time the FIA has been the target of criticism from drivers and team principals: “It’s hard to understand why the FIA takes so long to make these kinds of decisions,” Binotto pressed. “It’s likely, in this case, that they want to understand the reasons of Red Bull and Perez himself. Maybe they simply wanted to avoid making a wrong decision in order to hurry.”