Button defends Perez: ‘What is he supposed to do? He couldn’t lift off…’

Perez’s home race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez ended on the first lap after attempting an ambitious overtake on Leclerc and teammate Max Verstappen.

The Mexican made a storming start from fifth on the grid and moved alongside Leclerc and Verstappen on the run to Turn 1.

Perez turned in too early and collided with Leclerc, sending his Red Bull airborne before returning into the pit lane to retire.

Speaking after the race, Button felt that Perez “didn’t judge the situation” correctly but didn’t have too many options available to him after making it three-wide.

“This is the issue when you have cars that start really well, and cars that don’t. And the drag is so long into Turn 1,” he said. “What is Checo supposed to do? He couldn’t lift off, and pull in behind, because there were cars there. 

“So they would have had the opportunity to dive down the outside of him and cause mayhem. It’s a tricky one. 

“When you get to the point of deciding ‘I’m going to turn in now but maybe I just give him room, maybe I just run off track a bit, and come back on’.

“The start itself, for Max, was great down the middle. But then he got into a position where he hasn’t got to tow. It was a drag race down into Turn 1. They did push Carlos out of the way, a little. That gave Checo the chance to go for the outside. 

“Three-into-one does not work. Charles had nowhere to go. Checo? I think he thought there was enough room for Charles on the inside, else he wouldn’t have turned in. He didn’t want to crash. He just didn’t judge the situation.”

After Perez’s DNF in Mexico, he sits just 20 points ahead of Lewis Hamilton in the standings.