21 September 2023 , 10:31
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Lewis Hamilton poked fun at Sergio Perez after the Red Bull racer avoided a question about team-mate Max Verstappen avoiding several penalties at last weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.
During qualifying, Verstappen was accused of three separate impeding incidents. And the Formula 1 stewards set a precedent earlier in the season that such incidents tend to spark a three-place grid penalty.
But such a punishment was not forthcoming for Verstappen. He was given one reprimand for stopping at the end of the pit lane and another for getting in the way of Yuki Tsunoda. For a third incident involving Logan Sargeant, no action was taken.
The fact Verstappen avoided a grid drop for all three, particularly for the Tsunoda incident which looked to be an obvious case of impeding, raised eyebrows across the paddock. And it was a topic of conversation at the press conference ahead of this weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
Perez was taking part in that press conference but chose not to answer. He simple said he had nothing to say, prompting Hamilton, who was sitting next to Verstappen's team-mate, poked fun at the Mexican.
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Hamilton smiled as he picked up his microphone and said: "Are you sure? You always have an opinion on things." Perez replied: "Not on this one, I pass it to you." And the Mercedes driver asked in response: "Are you allowed to park at the end of the pit lane on the way out?"
This at least sparked a brief answer from Perez, who said: "Not wait for that long, but it's something that probably, in the future, we're allowed now." At that point, Hamilton left the Mexican alone and gave his own answer.
He said: "I didn't really see [the incidents]. I obviously was in the pit lane when everyone stopped and I couldn't see what was happening up ahead. We always work as close as we can with the FIA to have consistency and there is some variation, so we have to continue to work on it for sure."
It was that pit lane incident which left Charles Leclerc the most surprised that Verstappen avoided a penalty. "Especially the one in the pit lane, because that could open quite bad situations in the future," said the Ferrari driver.
He added: "But again, as we've said, it's always an open discussion with the FIA. trying to explain to them what our point of view is and improve and I'm sure we'll have that discussion tomorrow evening [in the usual drivers' briefing]."