Formula 1: The cause of Sergio Perez’s mysterious retirement

Why did Sergio Perez mysteriously retire from the 2021 Formula 1 season finale during the safety car period ahead of the final restart?

Like teammate Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez made a pit stop for new tires during the late safety car period in Sunday’s 2021 Formula 1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.

But shortly thereafter, Red Bull called Perez back into the pits and told him that they would be retiring his car, despite the fact that he had been on pace to help deliver the team a double podium result, possibly even their first 1-2 finish in a season finale since the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos — and their first overall since the 2016 Malaysian Grand Prix at Kuala Lumpur.

“Really?” a surprised Perez asked the team on the radio.

After the restart with one lap remaining, Verstappen went on to overtake Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in turn five. He held him off throughout the rest of the lap to win not only the race but the world championship.

Verstappen led only the race’s 58th and final lap around the 16-turn, 3.281-mile (5.280-kilometer) road course on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

It capped of a sequence of events that will be discussed for decades. Verstappen was on brand-new soft tires after pitting during the safety car period while Hamilton restarted on 43-lap-old hard tires.

To ensure that the race wouldn’t end under the safety car, the restart took place after only the five lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were allowed to unlap themselves.

But Perez, who played a key role in allowing Verstappen to catch up to Hamilton earlier in the race, did not take part in that restart.

So what made Perez’s car such a threat that Red Bull couldn’t have him run one more lap under green flag conditions?

What happened was Red Bull detected that Perez’s engine was over the limit, and had it expired under the safety car, there would have been absolutely no chance of getting the race restarted, and therefore Verstappen would have had no chance to pull off what he pulled off on lap 58.

Here is what Perez had to say about the matter.

"“I didn’t know anything at the time but obviously, the engine was on the limit. And the last thing we wanted to have is a failure and then not have the opportunity for Max to have that lap. It was on the limit, and you don’t want to engine blow up.”"

Had the team still had a decent chance to win the constructor championship, perhaps they would not have retired Perez’s car. Still, their decision, whether it actually changed anything or not, is one that will never be questioned, given the outcome of the world championship.