The Mexican driver had to leave the short race after a contact with Hamilton.
By Sergio Mancilla
Mexico City, July 29 (DIARIO AS).– Sergio Pérez had to abandon the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race on a lousy Saturday for the Mexican. The car was damaged after a collision with Lewis Hamilton, leaving severe damage to his RB19 that could not continue in the competition. However, all is not lost as Pérez sets his sights on Sunday where he will start in the front row.
Rain delayed the start of the sprint at Spa-Francochamps by more than an hour, and after extending the start several times, the short race started under the safety car. The cars lapped four laps behind the safety car.
Hamilton has been handed a five-second penalty for causing a collision in that battle with Perez
The Mexican has been told by his team to pit and retire the car #BelgianGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/P4E9IlTbmg
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2023
Of the 15 laps agreed, the race ended in 11 laps and under these conditions the start was made on the move. “Checo”, like everyone else, started with the full wet compound, and from eighth place he would seek to climb positions. However, from their pitwall they were very attentive to the strategy and after the first lap they put Pérez in the pits to place the intermediates on him.
Otherwise, Sergio, Verstappen, Leclerc and other drivers stayed on the track for one more lap and therefore “Checo” climbed from eighth to fourth place in what seemed like a promising start. However, everything changed when Fernando Alonso got confused causing a safety car.
The cars rolled behind the safety car again and it was there that Pérez already warned of having tire problems. In the restart he could not attack Gasly and on lap 7 he already felt the pressure from Hamilton. The Mercedes driver got the car on par in a maneuver that “Checo” did not give his arm to twist going to the limit that ended in a touch between the two cars.
LAP 7/11
Hamilton and Perez battling 😮
The pair touch and then Perez slides off into the gravel the following lap #BelgianGP #F1Sprint pic.twitter.com/vOBMdIf3DQ
— Formula 1 (@F1) July 29, 2023
The “Checo” car was more damaged than the British one and for this reason the Mexican fell in the classifier until he was in the last places and even got confused. With very little to gain and much to lose, Red Bull opted to retire Pérez’s car already thinking about Sunday’s race in which he will start second.
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