The ‘disastrous weekend’ in Japan left Perez disappointed, but he praised Red Bull’s ‘incredible year’

After Sergio Perez’s “disastrous Sunday” in Japan (he had to retire twice from Sunday’s race), he was glad to see his Red Bull team win another constructors’ championship.

Although Perez qualified sixth for the race, he fell behind early due to a sluggish start and was eventually passed by Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton. However, when they passed three abreast on the approach to Turn 1, Perez collided with Hamilton, damaging the end plate of his front wing.

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The replays showed him passing Fernando Alonso under the Safety Car as he came into the pits for a new front wing, forcing him to the rear of the field. He was subsequently penalized five seconds for violating the Safety Car’s rules.

However, things went from bad to worse for Perez when he attempted to pass Kevin Magnussen for eleventh and crashing down the inside of the Haas driver at the hairpin, sending Magnussen skidding and leaving Perez with further front wing damage.

After Perez radioed “the car doesn’t feel right” and received another five-second penalty for provoking a collision, Red Bull was able to attach another front wing onto his RB19, but they still retired his car.

When it appeared his day was over, Red Bull sent him out again 28 laps later to serve the penalty; he finally went out of the race for good on Lap 42.

Perez said this about his participation in the Japanese Grand Prix:   “It was just a disastrous weekend. It all started into Turn 1, with a really bad start.

“I was squeezed and was just a passenger there, in a sandwich. I think we carried a lot of damage in the car as well and that just made it a lot harder for us.”

With Max Verstappen’s triumph, Red Bull claimed their second directly constructors’ title and their sixth in general and while Perez was disappointed that Red Bull didn’t have a one-two finish, he remained satisfied to have contributed to the team’s triumph.

“Yeah, it’s been an incredible year,” said Perez. “I’m really happy to contribute to the constructors. It’s a very special day for the whole team, to finally clinch that constructors’ title.

“It’s been a tremendous year so far; the team has done an amazing job. It would have been really nice to clinch the championship with a one-two finish, but anyway it is what it is.”