Perez baffled by French GP penalty
Sergio Perez says he was baffled as to why he was penalised for his incident at the start of the French Grand Prix.
The Racing Point driver was handed a five-second penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage at the start, despite going around the outside of the Turn 3 bollard as instructed by race direction at the beginning of the weekend.
Perez, starting from 14th on the grid, believes he had done nothing wrong, as he felt he has followed the instructions.
"I don't understand why I got the penalty," Perez told Motorsport.com. "I did what I'm supposed to do, which is to go around the bollard, and you are meant to go slower, but apparently I gained an advantage.
"I have to review to see what I did wrong, but from my point it's so hard to judge where you are on track. I ended up behind [Nico] Hulkenberg, which is where I started, where I was into Turn 1, so I just have to review that."
He added: "If you go around the bollard you are meant to lose a lot of time. It's what I did. It's a pain in the ass to have to go around the bollard, but I stuck to the rules and I still got the penalty.
"The rule is clear. If you are out for whatever reason you just have to go around the bollard. It's what I did, but... I think probably going around the bollard is not slow enough so we have to make it slower."
Perez continued with his point-less streak, now stretching to four races, after finishing in 12th position at Paul Ricard.
The Mexican believes the penalty robbed him of a "deserved" points finish.
"I think we had good form," he said. "We were close to the Renaults and Alfas. In race pace we were a lot closer today and we deserved some points. But yeah, the points were taken away from us.
"It's very promising the pace that we had in the race, so I'm pleased with that. We were a lot closer and we'll see what we can do better next week. Hopefully we get back to the points."
Previous article
Hamilton was fearing repeat of Stroll tyre blowout
Next article
Vettel: Ferrari "failed" French GP objective
About this article
| Series | Formula 1 |
| Event | French GP |
| Drivers | Sergio Perez |
| Teams | Racing Point |
| Author | Pablo Elizalde |
Is Red Bull Hiding the Real RB16B? | F1 2021
Sergio Perez's First Drive With Red Bull Racing
Alfa Romeo C41 and Alfa Romeo C39 Compared
Say Hello To The RB16B | Unveiling Our 2021 Car
The pros and cons of F1's 2021 rule changes
In the strategy for grand prix racing's future, 2021 represents a significant step towards the goal of closer racing and a more level playing field. That's the theory behind the latest raft of changes, but will they have the desired effect?
What Red Bull is trying to hide with its RB16B launch
Red Bull made no secret of the fact its 2021 F1 car is an evolution of its predecessor, but in keeping the same foundations while hiding some tightly-guarded updates with its RB16B, the team aims to avoid suffering the same pitfalls of previous years
How Albon plans to fight his way out of Red Bull limbo
Alex Albon has faced the media for the first time since he lost his Red Bull drive at the end of 2020 and dropped out of a Formula 1 race seat altogether. He has a history of bouncing back from setbacks, so here's what he must do to rise again
Ranked! Carlin's greatest F1 graduates
Carlin has helped guide enough drivers to Formula 1 to fill out an entire grid, plus a handful of reserves, to create a remarkable alumni list. With Yuki Tsunoda set to join that group, Motorsport.com has ranked its graduates to grace the grand prix scene...
Why Alfa's 2021 launch says more about its 2022 plans
Alfa Romeo launched its C41 with a revised front nose, but there's little to suggest it will surge up the leaderboard in 2021. As the team frankly admits, it's putting its eggs in the basket labelled 2022 and hoping to hold the eighth place it earned last year
Why Gasly’s AlphaTauri haven is a blessing and a curse
Red Bull opted not to re-sign Pierre Gasly even before it decided to drop Alex Albon and so the Frenchman's Formula 1 journey will continue at AlphaTauri. This has positive and negative connotations for one of last season's star performers.
Eight things Red Bull must do to beat Mercedes in 2021
After seven years of defeat at the hands of Mercedes, Red Bull is as hungry as ever to secure a fifth world championship. But there are key challenges it must overcome in 2021 to switch from challenger to conqueror
How AlphaTauri has adapted to F1's new rules
AlphaTauri launched its AT02, complete with a new livery, as it bids to home in on an already-tight midfield battle. Although there were few outright new parts displayed on the launch render, there might be a few clues into further changes down the line…
