Racing Point’s Sergio Perez has been handed a reprimand after he was found guilty of impeding Pierre Gasly during qualifying at Portimao.
The incident occurred during Q2, with both drivers managing to progress into Q3 at the end of the session.
Both drivers were called to the Stewards after qualifying, where it was determined that the incident fell right on the verge of “unnecessary impeding”.
Perez abandoned a hot lap at Turn 10, although was found to still be travelling at a high speed. The stewards determined that “the topography between Turn 10 and Turn 13 is very hilly, and the drivers have very limited vision of the cars behind them”.
The statement continued: “Further, the time between the turns is very limited. At the apex of turn 13 Perez’s team got a radio warning to him that Gasly was approaching at full speed.
“He immediately pulled to the left at the exit of the corner. However, at this point the fact that he was at the apex as Gasly approached definitely impeded Gasly.
“The Stewards considered the difficulty to see that was apparent at this circuit, and compared this incident to others during the season.
“The Stewards therefore felt that this fell on the very edge of being “unnecessary impeding” (as is stated in the regulation) and issued a Reprimand.”
The punishment marks Perez’s first reprimand of the season, with the Mexican going on to qualify in fifth place. AlphaTauri’s Gasly ended up ninth fastest.
A driver is penalised if he is reprimanded three times during the year and if two are from a result of driving offences.
Discussion about this post