Pérez: a ruined season with Racing Point

2020, the year of regrets for Racing Point! Arriving this season with a formidable copy of the 2019 Mercedes (the W10), the English team is today only in fifth place in the constructors’ standings… with just one podium in 13 Grand Prix, Lance Stroll’s 3rd place in Monza. In Imola, it was Sergio Pérez who (again) missed the top 3.

A failed bet!

Only 11th at the start, Pérez had one of the comebacks of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix. Starting on medium tires unlike the drivers ahead of him, the Mexican moved into the top 10 during the first stint thanks to Pierre Gasly’s retirement.

A first stint stretched until the 27th lap to fit hard tires. Good call: Pérez passed Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc, and Alex Albon with the strategy. The Racing Point driver was 4th… and even 3rd after Verstappen’s retirement due to a puncture on the 52nd lap.

But it’s at this moment that the Racing Point pit wall made a mistake. Under yellow flag conditions like everyone else, Pérez is instructed by his race engineer to heat up his tires as much as possible.

“What are we doing?” asks the Mexican driver. The engineer’s prompt response: “Box Box,” Pérez complies, heading to the pit to fit soft tires. Except his direct rivals, Ricciardo-Leclerc-Albon, did not stop! It was at that moment Pérez lost the podium.

Passed by Daniil Kvyat at the beginning of the restart with 5 laps to go but benefiting from Albon’s spin, the Mexican finished 6th, expressing his frustration at the finish via his radio: « another podium that slips away from us »!

The arrival at Imola, a “painful” moment for Pérez at the journalists’ microphone in the post-race paddock. “Painful” because the podium was in the bag. It was the wrong timing. We gave the podium to Ricciardo, regretted the Racing Point driver.

« Another podium slipping away from us » Pérez on his radio at the finish of the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix

The justification of the technical director of Racing Point

« It was the right decision to make. It could have gone the other way » relativized Andy Green, the technical director of Racing Point. A bad set of circumstances in his view.

The race was going our way until the Safety Car. “Checo” (editor’s note: Pérez’s nickname) drove well, by extending his strategy. We were satisfied and the worst possible scenario was the arrival of the Safety Car.

But why on earth did they bring Pérez in when the mechanics of the other teams didn’t move?

« The car was specifically set up for long stints and not to overheat the tires, » explained Andy Green. « We were incredibly nervous about the restarts with the hard tires behind the Safety Car. We thought putting a new set of softs on it was the most logical thing to do. We thought the other drivers would do the same, » admitted the team’s technical director.

Based on these remarks, one can believe Andy Green: Russell’s off-track excursion at the same time as Pérez’s pit stop was ultimately unpredictable. The Safety Car stayed a bit longer to clear the debris.

« We thought the other drivers were going to do the same » Andy Green, technical director of Racing Point.

Not the first strategic mistake in 2020…

Obsessed with tire warming, the Racing Point team still made a mistake. It’s easy to criticize in hindsight, but the narrowness of the track was evident at Imola, resulting in the difficulty of overtaking since the beginning of the race.

And the problem is that this strategy error is not the first this season with Pérez: in Belgium, Racing Point had already done the opposite of its competitors by keeping its driver on track after the crash between Antonio Giovinazzi’s Alfa Romeo and George Russell’s Williams. The Mexican secured the point for 10th place… after climbing back from last position! In a tweet at the time, Pérez already said that he did not understand the strategy.

Blunder also in Italy at Monza in early September. Starting 4th, Pérez was disadvantaged by his mechanics, with a right rear tire tightened too slowly during his stop. The top 5 was achievable: instead, the former McLaren driver rejoined 14th, to finish 10th, just like in Belgium.

The strategy problems even appeared in qualifying during the Eifel Grand Prix in early October: Pérez did only one run in Q3. As a result, he starts 9th, while Ricciardo begins 6th. The Renault driver secures the podium… Pérez finishes less than two seconds behind!

In total, all these errors weigh on the record: in the constructors’ standings, Racing Point is 5th before Turkey, tied with McLaren, one point behind Renault. Without all these strategic blunders, the Silverstone team would comfortably hold 3rd place!

And in all this, Lance Stroll isn’t gaining anything at the moment. Even though the Canadian contracted the coronavirus (which certainly affects him physically today), he has remained the same nonchalant and seemingly uninvolved driver, at least on the surface.

But the Racing Point team can still see the glass as half full: there are 4 races left in 2020 to secure third place in the constructors’ standings, behind Mercedes and Red Bull. An end of the season before the transition with Aston Martin, and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel in the off-season… in place of Pérez.

???? It’s championship update time!

8⃣ Eight points yesterday means @SChecoPerez keeps hold of 6th place in the drivers’ standings #ImolaGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/RK6ugyADwX

— BWT Racing Point F1 Team (@RacingPointF1) November 2, 2020