Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren against an investigation into the crash of Perez in Monaco
Some team principals have said the FIA should not backtrack on the controversial crash that Red Bull driver Sergio Perez suffered during qualifying for the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix.
Earlier this season, the Mexican Sergio Perez had an accident during the last phase of qualifying at the Monaco track, which had the consequence of preventing the pilots from improving their times. This incident could have ended there, but after the controversy that emerged at the Brazilian Grand Prix when Max Verstappen refused to swap positions with teammate Sergio Perez (to read here), rumors have it that the Dutchman sought revenge because the Mexican deliberately crashed his car in Q3 in Monaco in order to prevent Max Verstappen from securing pole position on the streets of the Principality; a scenario categorically denied by Sergio Perez in Abu Dhabi during the last race weekend.
Although the FIA has no immediate intention of opening a formal investigation into this incident, which is now a thing of the past, the chairman of the governing body, Mohammed Ben Sulayem has hinted that a possible investigation could be generated in the future if other elements generated support these rumors.
Asked if they thought an investigation should be brought forward into this specific incident, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari team bosses were adamant, with all three men believing the story was now a thing of the past and worth maybe better focus on the future.
“I think the Perez incident happened a while ago, so I think we as a sport need to act faster if we see something that needs to be looked at. » said Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren.
“I think Monaco was a long time ago, so talking about Monaco here in Abu Dhabi [ils ont été interrogés à Abou Dhabi], I just think that train left the station. »
Mattia Binotto, the director of Ferrari, agrees with Brown’s comments and also thinks that we “must move forward” and not go back to events that occurred several months ago: “First, what happened in Monaco was very difficult for us to judge from the outside. » insisted Binotto.
“I don’t think we can judge and it’s not for us to do either. It’s up to the FIA, they have the data, and I’m pretty sure they looked at it at the time, and we have to move on. I think things have to move forward like Zak said. »
“Maybe we could discuss what we should do in this kind of situation, but I don’t think there’s a clear answer right now. We gave an update to the F1 Commission [la dernière Commission F1 qui a eu lieu à Abou Dhabi le vendredi 18 novembre] and Zak picked him up. I don’t think it’s necessary to go back over what happened in Monaco today. »
Same superior story from the side of Mercedes with a Toto Wolff who believes that there has been enough discussion during the season with the Red Bull team about exceeding the cost ceiling and that it is now time. to move forward.
“Regarding the incident in Monaco, we don’t have the data. Monaco is still pretty bad in terms of GPS. » explained Wolff.
“The second thing is that I have known Sergio for a long time. Would a driver really drive his car into a wall and risk damaging his gearbox the way it was done? You could end up at the bottom of the grid with such an accident. »
“To me, if you want to crash your car, you do it a different way. And as Mattia said [Binotto] and Zack [Brown]we’ve had enough PR crises in the last two weeks around this team [Red Bull] and I think we don’t need another one. »
Despite the opinion of the team principals, it is the FIA which will have the last word in this affair and which will decide whether or not to launch an investigation: “Sthere is something to study, we will be more than happy about it. What I can say is that I’m not shy or scared to throw [une enquête] if there is a problem. » said the FIA president.
“I won’t hide anything. I would even be the first to raise my hand and say if there was a problem with the FIA. Otherwise, if I can’t do that, you will never improve and evolve. That, I can guarantee you. »
It would not be the first time that the FIA has launched an investigation after the fact, since earlier this year the governing body did not hesitate to launch an in-depth investigation after the highly controversial 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a investigation which also led to the dismissal of the former FIA race director, the Australian Michael Masi.