Red Bull has conducted a review into the fastest lap process after a "miscommunication" between both drivers at the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, according to Sergio Perez. Max Verstappen was chasing Perez for the lead in the last 15 laps of the race, when the team told him several times to reduce his pace after he reported problems with the driveshaft. Perez was told similar information, but Verstappen continued to set quicker lap times compared to the Mexican. Verstappen then decided to "call it a day" and call the chase off once Perez realised and managed the gap to the Dutchman. Perez insists that, after communicating with team boss Christian Horner and his engineers after the Jeddah race, that they have a "clear" system of communication for a similar situation. "If we are in that position, like we were in Bahrain or in Jeddah, where it was very clear who was going to win the race no matter how hard we pushed, [then] if that's not the case, then we can find ourselves in a different race situation. And that can be a bit difficult," he told media, including RacingNews365.com .
Perez refutes Horner's fastest lap claims
Both Verstappen and Perez asked the team what the fastest lap was at the end of the race, with the former going on to set it on the final lap and snatch the remaining point away from his teammate. This also prevented Perez from taking the championship lead at the end of the race. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner claimed that it was "obvious" why Perez asked for the fastest lap information, claiming that he "gave up after the first couple of turns." However the Mexican refutes these claims and "regrets" not going for it after the "miscommunication" he had with his engineer Hugh Bird. "The communication I had was probably misunderstood together with my engineer. I probably regret not having a go at the fastest lap, because I thought that was the case," he said. "But at the same time it's not that they told me something and then told something differently to Max. So it was just down to us. He continued: "I spoke with my engineers, and it was all clear, and I had a word with Christian after the race and it was also clear. And it's nothing big."
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