Following Red Bull’s slow pit stop for Verstappen in the Italian Grand Prix, Perez lost around six seconds when he made his first pit stop at Sochi last weekend.
However Red Bull team principal Christian Horner denied it was linked to the FIA’s change in pit stop guidance during the summer break.
“We had a very slight delay on the wheel-off,” Horner explained, “and then [with] the clutch, he spun up the rear wheel, which then took more time to re-engage the wheel. So that was frustrating.”
The time loss meant Perez lost more ground than the team expected. “Otherwise he would have been a clear third,” said Horner. “But he got himself back into that position before the rain came.”
Horner insisted the delay was not linked to the rules clarification made in a recent technical directive.
“It wasn’t a TD issue. Unfortunately there was a slight delay in the wheel coming off and the clutch was released whilst he was on the stand and that then just compounded the problem. That’s what cost Sergio.”
Red Bull mechanic suffered burns during Perez’s slow pit stop
Daniel Ricciardo of Mclaren, Charles Leclerc of Ferrari were some of the people apart from Sergio Perez who suffered really slow pit stops in the Russian GP. However, the Sergio Perez pit-stop was made even worse by the fact that the mechanic at the right rear wheel of the car was badly injured during the pit stop.
From a replay of the pit stop, it can be seen that the right rear tire was very slow to get off. And by the time the other three tires were on. Sergio Perez dropped the clutch and the rear wheels started spinning, with the hand of the mechanic in contact with it. This friction caused the mechanic’s hand to get burnt. However, he managed to brave his way through the pain and took the wheel off, completing the pit stop.
Perez also posted on Instagram about the race weekend where he mentioned the mechanic as well. “I’m glad our mechanic is ok. We will do our internal discussions as a team and will grow together even more after this tough race.”,
