The two F1 rules problems Perez’s recent mishaps expose

OPINION: Sergio Perez has been involved in controversial crashes in the last two Formula 1 races, with the Suzuka event also including a regulation loophole his Red Bull squad used to avoid a penalty being stretched to the next round. These serve to make the case for two elements of F1’s rulebook being urgently re-examined

Updated Sep 27, 2023, 9:48 AM

How Formula 1 is yearning for a 2021 scenario right now. That championship famously went down to the wire. This year will effectively have six grand prix dead rubbers – assuming Max Verstappen seals his third crown in the Qatar sprint race as he is near certain to do.

Two years ago, F1 television audience numbers were booming globally – famously boosted by Netflix’s Drive to Survive and all the new viewers that had come across what was already a successful F1 promotion vehicle during the COVID-19 lockdowns. In 2023, the championship’s spin is about new social media interactions and how fans engage in content differently during a dull season.

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Author Alex Kalinauckas

Alex Kalinauckas is Autosport's Grand Prix Editor, covering every Formula 1 race since the start of 2020. After completing a master's degree in journalism at Goldsmiths College University of London in 2014, he worked for a range of motorsport and technology publications while covering national racing as an Autosport freelancer.

A lifelong motorsport fan - no one in his family can explain quite how or why such a development first occurred - Alex joined the Autosport staff in April 2017 as the magazine’s Assistant Editor covering Formula 2 and GP3, before being made Formula E correspondent and Autosport.com’s Plus Editor in March 2018. He lives in north-east London and is constantly frustrated by the Central Line.