Alex Albon feels 33-year-old F1 rival hasn’t learnt ‘anything’ in latest errors

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Williams ace Alex Albon feels Sergio Perez has not learnt ‘anything’ from the Red Bull star’s crashes in Singapore and Japan as Formula 1’s penalties are not ‘strict enough’.

Perez endured another disappointing weekend at the Japanese GP last Sunday as he retired from the race twice. Red Bull initially brought the 33-year-old back to the garage as a result of progressive damage from his crashes. But they sent him back out to serve a time penalty.

The FIA’s race stewards gave Perez a five-second time penalty for crashing into Haas driver Kevin Magnussen at Turn 11. He also got a separate five-second time penalty for overtaking under the Safety Car. Yet Perez can still count himself fortunate to have not received a third.

Sergio Perez had a disappointing crash-strewn Japanese GP

Perez received his first time penalty for overtaking on pit entry after charging in for a change of front wing. Red Bull felt the Mexican required a fresh front wing after colliding with Lewis Hamilton at the race start. Yet he also charged out of the pits and overtook two further cars.

Despite debris being strewn across Turn 1 from the opening lap incidents, Perez charged out of the pit lane. The Guadalajara native soon realised he overtook some cars in doing so. But Perez only let one of the cars he overtook back past and he stayed ahead of Logan Sargeant.

His Japanese GP dramas were far from over, either, as Perez attempted to move back up the order after dropping to P16. Contact with Haas’ Magnussen followed on Lap 12, after which Red Bull initially retired Perez. He was overly ambitious attempting an overtake into Turn 11.

The overtake was never on as Perez looked to dive down Magnussen’s inside at the hairpin far, far too late. His naïve move tipped the 30-year-old into a spin after catching the Dane’s rear-left wheel with his front-right. It left the Red Bull driver with front wing damage again.

Alex Albon slams the FIA’s penalties after Sergio Perez’s crashes

Williams star Albon had the perfect view of Perez’s naïve attempt to overtake Magnussen as he followed the Red Bull and Haas pair at the Japanese GP. It also reminded the 27-year-old about his own incident with Perez during the previous Singapore GP, just seven days before.

The FIA’s stewards also gave Perez a five-second time penalty in Singapore for divebombing Albon at Turn 13. Like with Magnussen at Suzuka, the overtake was never on and cost Albon a points-scoring finish. He simply barged the London-born Thai out of his way to go into P9.

So, to see Perez make the same mistake just one week later, Albon feels the FIA must review its penalties. The Williams driver does not believe the now normalised usage of five-second time penalties is enough of a deterrent to make others like Perez learn from their mistakes.

“In Turn 11, he did the same move again [as] to me on track,” Albon stated, via quotes by RacingNews365. “I avoided it and then he did it again to Kevin. I was behind him, so I had the best view of everyone.

“Clearly, it’s not really teaching the drivers anything because the penalties aren’t strict enough. I mean, that’s two races in a row.”