"We are the ones taking all the risk"- Sergio Perez slams critics who want to put a 'cap on driver salaries' after Zhou Guanyu's horrific crash at 2022 F1 British GP
Sergio Perez came down hard on the suggestion of the introduction of an F1 driver's salary cap in the future. The driver was part of the post-race press conference at the 2022 F1 British GP where he was asked about the Lap 1 incident involving Guanyu Zhou.
Speaking about the incident, the Mexican driver made it a point to give props to the FIA for the safety steps that it had taken in the last few years. As a passing note, however, Sergio Perez also commented on the introduction of a salary cap for F1 drivers. The Mexican exclaimed that, at the end of the day, it's the F1 drivers who are putting on a show, taking the risk, and it was not sound for the sport to have such discussions altogether.
“Well done to the FIA because we’ve come a long way [with safety]. I’m sure there are still good improvements and always good lessons to make sure we learn from, to see the accident, to make sure there are things we can improve. I don’t know if there were photographers around that were at risk. So just have a look and see if we are able to make this a safer sport for everyone."
“And the final thing I’d like to add is when you hear people talking about putting a cap on the driver salaries. We are the ones taking all the risk out there, putting on the show. So I don’t think it’s a good thing to be talking about that on the sport going forwards. But the most important is that nobody was hurt."
Sergio Perez: It's hard to take your mind off this and focus on the F1 race at hand
Perez gave a glimpse of what went through his mind as he shared his thoughts when he first saw the accident:
“I knew there was an accident, but I was back in the garage. I was looking at the TV and they showed the accident and I was shocked. It’s been a while since we have seen such an accident like that. It’s hard to see that and to try to delete it from your mind and try to focus on what you have to do."
The incident revealed the gravity of the risk that drivers take when they step into an F1 car and there's no doubt that other drivers were in a similar head space than the Mexican.