Sergio Perez failed to bring home a one-two finish for Red Bull in Las Vegas.
Le Mans winner Richard Bradley says Sergio Perez’s non-defence against Charles Leclerc on the last lap of the Las Vegas Grand Prix was a piece of racecraft even a 13-year-old racer would have been ashamed of.
And he believes it would have been the “final nail in the coffin” of his Red Bull career if Perez had not already secured the runner-up spot in the F1 2023 Drivers’ standings.
Perez claimed his first podium since September’s Italian GP in Vegas, where he recovered from 11th on the grid to finish third, but missed the chance to secure a Red Bull one-two.
OTGP’s Richard Bradley pulls apart Sergio Perez’s poor racecraft
The Mexican held second place behind Max Verstappen on the final lap, but failed to defend the inside at the very last braking zone of the race and allowed Leclerc’s Ferrari to slip through.
Appearing on the latest edition of the On Track GP podcast, produced in collaboration between DR Sports and PlanetF1.com and available to watch below, Bradley was left enraged by Perez’s poor racecraft.
And after also being passed by Fernando Alonso on the final lap of the previous race in Brazil, he sees Perez’s lack of defence as a sign that is confidence has hit rock bottom.
He explained: “When I was karting, my dad used to record all of my races with a handheld camera so we could watch them back.
“There was one race when I was 13 where I was really stupid and knew I’d made a mistake afterwards and I didn’t block in a very similar way to Perez on the last lap when I was leading and five karts went by me – I learned some new words when I watched that video back!
“For a 13-year-old that was some mature language, but I deserved it and [Perez’s non-defence] was identical. That shouldn’t be happening when you’re 13 years old, let alone when you’re in Formula 1.
“Why on earth didn’t he even move to the inside? You just park your car on the inside. It’s very similar to what Max did when he overtook Leclerc. Max overtook Leclerc on the inside and thought that Leclerc was giving him the room.
“Leclerc then tried to outbrake him on the outside, so Max just released the brake and put Leclerc in a position where he couldn’t turn into the corner. He had to let Max go.
“Checo, just park your car on the inside and then when Leclerc goes down, just release the brakes so you’re always a little bit ahead of him. And if he breaks too late, you know that he’s braked too late and he’ll run straight on.
“The wall comes back out, he’s going to be the one who hits the wall first. The fact he didn’t even move to the inside, I have no idea what he was thinking.
“You just always know rule number one in defending: inside. That’s the first thing you learn in racecraft when you’re nine years old.
“For him to have made that [mistake], honestly, he’s lucky [that he’s already secured second in the Championship].
“Honestly, for me, if he didn’t come second then this would have been the [final] nail in the coffin because that shows that the confidence is just completely and utterly deflated.
“That was so poor.”
