Did Sergio Perez and Red Bull cheat in Monaco?

It’s a controversy that arose on the Interlagos circuit just a few hours after the Brazilian Grand Prix, which was won by George Russell for a Mercedes one-two.

Sergio Perez would have intentionally spun out at the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix to prevent Max Verstappen from securing pole position.

While the Monaco Grand Prix is the 7th race of the 2022 season, Perez and Verstappen were already in a championship battle, with Verstappen leading with 110 points, 25 points ahead of Sergio Perez.

During the first run of Q3 in the qualifying session, Perez was in 3rd position, behind the two Ferraris but ahead of his teammate. While all the drivers were improving, Perez’s Red Bull made a mistake just before the tunnel, obstructing the laps of Sainz and Verstappen and causing the session to be stopped. Leclerc, who was the poleman at the time, couldn’t hold onto his position and, ultimately, it was Perez himself who took the victory this season in Monaco thanks to a poor strategy from Ferrari.

Some evidence?

Sergio Perez’s onboard camera at the moment of the spin allows us to hear that the driver’s acceleration seems unusually high compared to the other laps.

Sergio Perez accelerates like all drivers gradually at the exit of Portier corner, just before the tunnel. Based on the sounds and telemetry, we can clearly see that the acceleration pedal is progressive until at least the rear wheels have passed the apex. However, during the Q3 lap that caused Perez’s spin, we can hear the engine revving well before the apex. This sound stands out compared to all the times the Mexican driver went through the corner. Simple mistake? Intentional? Difficult to prove.

However, other strange phenomena are added. On Perez’s radio in Q2, the Mexican driver receives the instruction « Cancel Red Button » translatable as « Annule le bouton rouge ». This radio message seems surprising and has not been used by Perez’s track engineer throughout the rest of the qualifying session.

“Cancel Red Button”

Perez then responds, “So, what can we do in Q3 then?” The engineer answers the question, “We will discuss it in the pitlane.”

This sentence raises doubts regarding its interpretation. Firstly, because it is not usually used by Engineer Perez during qualifying sessions, and secondly, because it seems that Perez is questioning which strategy to adopt.

Perez then refers to his second qualifying lap that he fails to optimize. He might question the choice of tires to use.

However, Motors Inside listened to Perez’s qualifying sessions in other Grand Prix without hearing this phrase. It is therefore only used in Monaco during qualifications. The only time such a spin occurs for Perez. This does not necessarily mean that a strategy was put in place by Red Bull, but it raises questions about the event in Monaco.

Coincidence, in the latest documentary on Canal+, Jean Todt, former Director of Scuderia Ferrari, said he had never cheated in his life, because if you do, you need accomplices and these accomplices can gain influence over you and potentially blackmail you.