On the last lap, George Russell attempted to overtake Alonso down the back straight. As Russell closed in on the Aston Martin, Alonso executed an unusual maneuver, lifting earlier and slowing down more than usual into Turn 6. Russell was caught off guard, lost control, and crashed into the barriers, prompting the Virtual Safety Car. The stewards handed the penalty to Fernando Alonso which Sergio Perez countered during the interview.
Perez raised fingers on FIA’s hefty penalty to the Spaniard
: Sergio Pérez, while acknowledging that the penalty was harsh, expressed concern about consistency. He believed the penalty was “a little excessive” and “unnecessary.” However, his biggest fear lies in the possibility of similar incidents occurring without consequences in the future.
“I think we all know what is acceptable, what is within limits,” Pérez said. “I mean, knowing the drivers, especially Fernando, he always does these kinds of tricks, so to speak, always within the limits.”
Perez further criticized the FIA for inconsistency in their past decisions, citing an incident in Jeddah involving Valtteri Bottas where no penalty was given for blocking, while he himself received a three-spot penalty for blocking Nico Hülkenberg. He emphasized the importance of maintaining consistency in penalty decisions across all races to uphold the integrity of the sport.
What happened with Sergio Perez in Jeddah?
In Q1 of the qualifying session, Hulkenberg was on a fast lap when he approached Turn 13. Perez, who was on an out lap, was positioned at the apex of the turn Hulkenberg had to leave the racing line to drive around Perez, causing him to lift the throttle early and brake prematurely for the corner.
The stewards reviewed the audio from Perez’s car and observed that the team did not give Perez a warning about Hulkenberg being behind him until one second before Hulkenberg arrived. This warning was significantly too late to avoid impeding Hulkenberg.
Consequently, the stewards deemed that Perez had “unnecessarily impeded” Hulkenberg and imposed a three-place grid penalty on Perez.
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