Perez believes that safety car block on Sainz was "done in all fairness"

Sergio Perez insists that his move where he blocked Carlos Sainz was "done in all fairness" under the safety car. In doing so, he contradicts the words of Sainz, who felt it was unfair and that this prevented him from having a chance to attack Max Verstappen.

Perez achieved the first pole position of his Formula 1 career on Saturday in Jeddah. At the start of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, the Mexican managed to maintain his lead, but he was the first front-runner to make a pit stop.

Shortly after his stop, a safety car came out due to Nicholas Latifi's crash, allowing Charles Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz to change their tyres with minimal time loss. However, Sainz came out of the pit lane alongside Perez, with the Mexican holding on to the racing line and not giving the Ferrari driver any room. He thus claimed third place. Perez eventually had to give back his position after the restart, as Sainz was officially ahead of him on exiting the pit lane, according to race control.

Perez believes he acted fairly

In conversation with Motorsport.com, Perez explains that he was clearly trying to block Sainz, which he believes is allowed with the safety car line. The Red Bull driver therefore believes that everything was done in all fairness. Perez stresses that in the car it is difficult to see exactly where the line is, so he had to rely on his team's information.

Sainz finds it strange that Perez only had to give back the position after the restart. If he had recovered P3 before the restart, he might have had a chance to attack Verstappen for P2.