Sergio Perez made a playful comment about his encounter with a bird at the Shanghai International Circuit. During the qualifying for the sprint race, Perez’s RB20 was hit by a bird, leading him to request a pit stop to assess the situation. In a humorous way, Perez referred to the bird as the race engineer’s brother.
The incident provided amusement for Perez, but probably not for his race engineer, Hugh Bird. Bird was focused on inspecting Perez’s car to ensure there was no damage. It seems the engineer was not pleased with Perez’s comments and was tired of jokes about his surname.
Video footage shows Perez being hit by a bird on the long straight of the Shanghai International Circuit. After the team conducted checks in the pitlane, Perez resumed his qualifying for the sprint race. He will start from P6 tomorrow, just behind another driver.
During the exchange between Perez and Bird, Perez exclaimed that he had been hit by a bird, to which Bird responded with a humorous request to stop in the box and check for a bird. Perez then jokingly referred to the bird as Bird’s brother.
Despite speculation about a possible replacement for Perez, the Red Bull team principal expressed satisfaction with both drivers. Horner praised Perez for his hard work during the winter break and his solid performance. However, Horner hinted that decisions on the driver lineup for the next season will not be made until later in this season.
Carlos Sainz, who will leave Ferrari at the end of the current campaign, is said to have received an offer from Red Bull. However, nothing has been confirmed yet. It remains to be seen whether Red Bull will choose to replace Sergio Perez.