Before the race began, Red Bull's strategy team already knew that Verstappen couldn't win today's race unless Qin Miao retired.
At this moment, Red Bull's idea to have Perez block Hamilton was clearly to prevent Hamilton from taking second.
They wanted Perez to help Verstappen disrupt Hamilton's race rhythm.
This was to ensure Verstappen maintained the points gap with Qin Miao without it widening further.
And then trouble ensued with this blocking strategy.
In the 18th lap, Perez had just changed his tires and left the team's pit area when Stroll's car malfunctioned.
Aston Martin detected severe MGU-H degradation in Stroll's car.
It was no longer able to continue driving.
The team instructed Stroll to park the car at a Matthew entrance.
As expected, a safety car appeared on the track.
Perez had just pitted the lap before, and the safety car appeared the next lap.
This was truly a series of unfortunate events.
