Interesting nobody is talking of Perez...

In the wake of the Abu Dhabi event it is interesting that few are talking about Perez. Yes he was mighty in his defense of Lewis and helped his teammate tremendously. Kudos to him as he did an outstanding job as a driver to support the team.

What I'm proposing is not conspiracy theory but rather strategy on Red Bull's part that was inside of the rules.

The question is about his car and his early retirement from the race. Did Red Bull short fuel (or other legal option) Perez to make him lighter and therefore 'racier' should they need him to help Max? Was his early retirement a function of him literally not being able to finish because he was always going to be a sacrificial lamb?

If this is the case then Red Bull would have put all their eggs in the Driver's Championship and effectively written off the Constructer's Championship. If it is true you would really have to commend Red Bull on their tactical foresight and commitment to Max.

 

It was engine oil pressure problems that caused his retirement. There is the thought that had he stayed out and retired on track a safety car period would have hurt RBR so instead they brought him in the pits to avoid a prolonged safety car.

 

This is what Red Bull told everyone but is it true?

 

Holy conspiracy theory Batman!! no way.

Perez may not have been up with Max all year, but he grabbed a few fast laps away from HAM, blocked HAM a bit, and contributed to Max' championship.

 

Again NOT a conspiracy theory but potentially a tactical play by Red Bull 100% legal and inside of the rules. No malfeasance implied here.

 

Starting low on fuel (and accept that you will not make it to the finish line) is just as legal as starting with a fresh extra powerful engine (and accept a grid penalty).

All legal to the letter of the rules, perhaps not to the spirit of the rules....

 

I remember reading about a race in the early 80's. I cannot remember the team but they were on shaky ground and their sponsors were losing interest. At the British GP where all the team sponsors were there as guests, the team short filled the car and ran it illegal. In the race it showed really well until 'bad luck' struck and a 'mechanical failure' robbed them of a certain strong finish. The sponsors all believed it and kept funding the team even though the whole thing was a scam. Funny stories from years gone by.

Another one was Brazil 1989 when Nigel Mansell won for Ferrari on his debut. In testing the car never went a race distance without its then revolutionary paddle gearbox breaking. Before the race it was suggested to John Barnard that they short fuel the car because it was going to retire anyway so they should at least look strong when dropping out. Barnard said to fill it 'just in case' and as it was Ferrari went on to a historic victory.

 

No, and Stanley Kubric didn't give us clues about the Moon Landing footage being fake via The Shining.

 

Interesting nobody is talking of Perez...

He is peaked for career. RedBull will be his last team. Overall he did ok but I would not say he is better than Gasly. Gasly got more out of the slower car than Perez did in the faster one.
He makes a nice wingman and even then Bottas was still better even after being used as test wingman for the engines of Mercedes.

Overall Perez is an interesting mid pack driver who got a good break to be with a top team. Bottas is probably defined as the same but is a touch better and is certainly a 1 lap master Perez can only dream of being.

 

Interesting question about short fueling him. If this was the case, I would not have expected Sergio’s “really?!” comment when told to retire the car.

My thoughts were more about having turned the engine to “11” (and for longer than normally allowed) while fighting HAM. I mean, the way Perez overtook him had me thinking: “where did that come from?” Maybe the oil pressure issue mentioned relates to this?

Edit: And also, if engine was used at the highest mode for longer than normal, fuel consumption would also be way up. So maybe giving credibility to the short-fueling theory.

 

This comparison between Perez and Bottas is meaningless because it’s based on the fact that the Red Bull and the Mercedes were equivalent in 2021.
Which is not true.
Perez in the Mercedes would undoubtedly have achieved the same results as Bottas in qualifying.

 

Perez is consistently stronger in the race than qualy. Nothing new about that at all. He has no consistent capability in qualy.

His performance in qualy vs Max. Max all the day every race.

Perez in the RedBull - he is not a good qualy driver.

Avg Start Perez = 7.28
Bottas= 4.4

 

I think this is the more likely situation. RBR retired Perez with a few laps to go only...if they where going to short fuel him to help Max and sacrifice the WCC, they'd have short fueled Perez 20 laps. The difference with a couple of laps is absolutely tiny and wouldn't make a difference to the outcome of the race at all.