Kravitz saw clever move by Red Bull: 'FIA will close that loophole'

Red Bull Racing played it smart by sending Sergio Perez back onto the track despite his retirement so that he could serve his time penalty. In doing so, the team avoided a possible grid penalty for the Qatar Grand Prix. The team got permission from the FIA to do this, but according to Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz, it is a loophole that the governing body will want to close.

Perez had a sloppy opening phase in the Japanese Grand Prix, in which the Red Bull driver made several mistakes. He was penalised for two incidents: overtaking during the safety car and for causing a collision with Haas driver Kevin Magnussen. The Mexican did not get to serve the second penalty due to his retirement, but Red Bull had come up with something clever for that.

After more than 15 laps had elapsed, Perez suddenly got back into his Red Bull. He drove a lap, after which the team called him in to retire the car again. That gave Perez the chance to sit out his time penalty and thus avoid it being converted into a grid penalty for the Qatar Grand Prix. A lap later, he came in again for his second DNF of the race.

'FIA will want to close that loophole'

Kravitz saw Red Bull cleverly exploiting a loophole and stressed that the team had sought permission from the FIA for it. "It's a bit bizarre watching Checo go back. I think he was in his jeans already having an ice cream," says the 49-year-old Briton. "They did it in a brilliant way. It was clever, don't get me wrong, it was really clever," he adds.

We won't see a repeat of the scene, Kravitz believes. "I can tell you that the FIA, now having seen this loophole, are rather minded to close it off quite quickly for the next race and say for certain infringements if the penalty has not been served, then it has to be a grid penalty at the next race. They're not going to let Red Bull get away with gaming the rules, I suppose," the reporter said.