Back from the dead? Not quite. But certainly back from the list of retirements. And then back onto it again. It’s fair to say that Red Bull’s Sergio Perez didn’t have a great race in Japan today. But X, formerly and better known as Twitter, had a bloody field day.
First of all, if you’re wondering what all of this is about, Perez had a bad start, bounced off Lewis Hamilton, picked up a penalty for passing Fernando Alonso when pitting under the safety car and then ended his race with an even worse attempted overtake on Kevin Magnussen.
More angles on Perez 💥 Magnussen
Perez has been forced to pit for another new front wing and is currently running last#F1 #JapaneseGP pic.twitter.com/KFmtx6qsdS
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 24, 2023
This meant he had to retire from the race. Something he did before serving the penalty he was awarded for causing a collision. Not wanting to take a grid penalty next time out in Qatar – as the stewards had the option to apply that – the team opted to send him back out into the race, 26 laps after retiring, to serve the time penalty in a race he was already destined to score no points in.
Here are our favourite fan reactions to this total farce:
every driver watching sergio perez come out back on track pic.twitter.com/gXdIKsF7y4
— andy (@iiiuminateandy) September 24, 2023
RedBull asking Perez to get back in the car 15 laps after retiring it pic.twitter.com/8FtaKQnma9
— Anuj Tripathi (@depressedsebfan) September 24, 2023
Sergio Perez coming back from retirement back on track like #japanesegp pic.twitter.com/lKfgskEcT5
— ahmed baokbah 🇸🇦🏎✈️ (@ahmed_baokbah) September 24, 2023
Sergio Perez when there are still undamaged cars on track #JapaneseGP #F1 #P1 pic.twitter.com/DYbG2CqTeo
— Chrystal Horner (@ChrystalHorner) September 24, 2023
perez on his way to dnf twice pic.twitter.com/elpWyAmf4q
— nini (@SCUDERIAFEMBOY) September 24, 2023
What did you make of Perez’s disasterclass today?
