Jolyon Palmer on Sergio Perez’s mistake

Jolyon Palmer, former Formula 1 driver and now expert on the championship’s official website, discusses the reasons for the mistake made by Sergio Perez at the start of the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Performing in your home country always gives you an extra emotional boost. And although usually before the start of such a weekend you have to participate in a larger number of all kinds of PR campaigns, you feel the support of the fans, they charge you with energy, and that’s great.

Of course, not all drivers have their own home Grand Prix. I’m lucky because the season calendar includes a race at Silverstone, on a circuit that I really love. But then I was just one of the Brits who went to the start, but there was also Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and it’s fair to say it wasn’t me who gathered in the stands for the most part!

But in Mexico City the spectators mainly come to the circuit for Sergio Perez. From the very first round of Friday training he is received very warmly. In Mexico he is a real rock star, and when Formula 1 tours the homeland of the Mexican Red Bull Racing driver, it is only natural that Sergio wants to please his fans with something special.

This is exactly what he tried to do at the start of the race, but unfortunately his brilliant breakthrough ended in retirement.

At the Rodriguez Brothers Circuit there is a long straight towards Turn 1, where you can take advantage of the slipstream. Almost every year we see two or even three cars running into the braking zone side by side before this corner, but I don’t remember anyone managing to take the lead after starting from 5th position.

Perez’s start was simply reactive, he immediately moved ahead of Daniel Ricciardo’s AlphaTauri before gaining an advantage through a powerful slipstream and finding himself on the outside stretch to the left of the three cars battling for the lead.

Overtaking on the outside radius in this corner is possible – Max Verstappen proved this in 2021 when he overtook both Mercedes cars – but such maneuvers are often risky and very difficult to execute properly.

The initiative in this turn still lies with whoever is in the inner radius. If the opponent does not brake clearly later, that driver must retain the lead. This is exactly the tactic that Verstappen has often used this year, starting from the front row.

Perez, driving on the outside, braked later than Charles Leclerc, but not so late to enter the corner normally, and when he started to do so, the Ferrari driver didn’t flinch and kept driving.

By the time all three hit the brakes, nothing could be done to slow down more intensively, and in this scenario you can only hope that your rivals will leave you enough space on the track.

When Perez started turning the wheel, Leclerc had nowhere to go, so a collision was inevitable. Unfortunately it all ended when the local hero left the race. From the outside, it looked like Sergio really wanted to please his fans. If he managed to take the lead, the entire Mexican capital would roar with joy.

I believe Perez had an increased adrenaline level during his home race, this gave him confidence and he decided on such a daring maneuver. Although in reality the chance that everything would turn out fine was small. Without excessive enthusiasm, Sergio would have quietly finished in the top three – his car allowed it.

However, after the race it is always easier to analyze the events that took place, and the riders sincerely regret the mistakes they made. What happened at the start in Mexico City was an almost exact copy of the incident at the start of the Qatar Grand Prix, for which Hamilton eventually admitted responsibility.

But while Lewis has been confident in recent races, helped by the upgraded Mercedes car, Perez can no longer afford to make mistakes if he wants to retain second place in the championship.

As for his place at Red Bull next year, Sergio should try not to attach importance to the comment that Daniel Ricciardo’s good form behind the wheel of the AlphaTauri car poses a direct threat to his partnership with the champion team. The racer can only fully concentrate on his tasks, regardless of the noise in the press about him.

If Perez drives normally in the three remaining races of the season and makes no mistakes, he will finish the year normally and will be able to rebuild during the winter period and prepare for the next championship.