It appears that for the second season in a row there might be a controversial investigation after the season finale, with more and more people suggesting that Sergio Pérez did crash on purpose at the Monaco Grand Prix.
Following Max Verstappen’s team order defiance, where he insisted that he had his “reasons” for defying Red Bull, the main ‘reason’ has begun to circulate.
Supposedly, Verstappen decided not to give the place to Pérez following an incident during qualifying at Monaco, with the Dutchman believing Pérez crashed on purpose.
In the closing stages of Q3 at Monaco, Pérez crashed prior to the famous tunnel under the swimming pool, after appearing to get on the throttle far too soon.
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Telemetry has also suggested such a thing, with it looking concerningly like the Mexican did crash on purpose to stop Verstappen claiming pole.
This is exactly what an ex-F1 driver believes, with Pérez’s lack of correction also looking questionable.
“He gets on the gas before the corner and you don’t normally do that,” former F1 driver Giedo van der Garde told Viaplay.
“He also hardly counters the slide. This really does look like a thing to put the car in the wall to stay ahead of your teammate.”
Van der Garde’s comments have been backed by former Bridgestone and Ferrari engineer Kees van de Grint, who thinks an FIA investigation into the incident is “quite possible”, with any punishment being potentially costly.
“I don’t know if what Giedo is saying is true, but it does seem that way,” he said.
“It is quite possible that there will be another investigation into Perez and that he will get into trouble as a result,” he added.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem wavered his thoughts on the matter ahead of the season finale this weekend in Abu Dhabi, where he explained that there is currently “no reason” for the governing body to investigate the incident.
However, Ben Sulayem did admit that should “clear evidence” be presented to the FIA, then a probe into the matter would “certainly” happen.
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“At the moment there is no reason for it,” Ben Sulayem said.
“If someone asks us and comes with clear evidence, then we will certainly do it.”
Given that it involves both Verstappen and Pérez it’s unlikely that the incident will be taken any further, with Mercedes boss Toto Wolff having revealed himself that he hopes nothing comes of it.