Sergio Perez gives strange reason for penalty incident at Spanish Grand Prix

Sergio Perez admitted his mirrors were “full of dust” last time out in Canada, as an accident ruined his race and ultimately led to a grid penalty.

The Red Bull driver damaged his rear wing when he spun on a drying track, but explained that he could not see the damage to the back of his RB20 as he brought it back to the pit lane. He was later given a three-place grid penalty for the Spanish Grand Prix for driving the car in unsafe conditions.

Sergio Perez reveals that the mirrors were “full of dust” so he couldn’t see the damage in Canada

Additional reporting by Sam Cooper

Last time out, Perez spun out at Turn 5 in Montreal and backed into the tyre barrier, but was able to get going again and return to the pit lane – which earned him a grid penalty given the condition of his car at the time.

However, the Red Bull driver explained that he would have done so again because he trusted that the pit wall would give him instructions on whether he needed to pull over or not.

In addition, he couldn’t really see the damage.

“In hindsight, I wouldn’t have done anything differently because I trust my team completely and tell them what to do,” Perez told media in Barcelona, ​​including PlanetF1.com.

“At that point I had no visibility with my mirror, so I think all the drivers were in the same boat because of the race.

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“They were also full of dust. I had no idea how bad the damage was. I think we’ve seen a lot of similar incidents in the past, just a few races ago, and nothing happened – so we were a bit surprised, but there was nothing we could do.”

“After this weekend we realized that we had a lot of problems and I think we can basically put this weekend behind us because we just didn’t have a single problem.

“We thought we had one problem at the time, but when we investigated, we found there were a few other problems.”

With three more places to gain whichever qualifying session he takes in Barcelona on Saturday, Perez admitted his main objective will be to ensure Red Bull emerge as the highest-scoring constructors at the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

And if he manages to get on the podium, that will be his main goal.

“Considering the grid penalty, I think we can be the team that comes out of here with the most points this weekend. That would be good. And getting back on the podium is the goal,” he said.

“We have obviously worked very hard in the factory over the last few days and have got a pretty good idea of ​​things.

“In Formula 1 we live in a world with such small margins that some things were out of place. But the good thing is, of course, that it hurts a lot to have this bad run of races. But at the same time, it’s great to be back here in Barcelona. I know that if I drive a good race, I can regain the momentum I had not so long ago.”

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