Sergio Perez’s victory at the Singapore Grand Prix was confirmed by a test for driving behind the safety car.
Perez was disciplined and given a five-second time penalty for two separate incidents. However, he held on for victory as he crossed the checkered flag 7.5 seconds ahead of Charles Leclerc.
The stewards noted that Perez failed to stay within 10 car lengths of the safety car on two separate occasions while on track.
He was disciplined for the first incident during the safety car following the collision between Zhou Guanyu and Nicolas Latifi. The stewards said: “With the safety car lights still on, Perez failed to stay within 10 car lengths of the safety car between turns 13 and 14.
When questioned during the trial, Perez said the conditions were very wet and it was difficult for the safety car to follow closely with a little heat in the tires and brakes.
They did not fully accept his explanation, but decided to reprimand him for the first incident.
Although the track was partially wet, we do not accept that the conditions were such as to make it impossible or dangerous for Perez to maintain the required distance of less than 10 car lengths. However, we considered the wet conditions and the problems described by Perez as mitigating factors for this incident and determined that a penalty should be issued accordingly.
During the next safety car, Perez again fell too far. This season’s race director Eduardo Freitas has warned Red Bull that Perez will have to keep a close eye on him. The team passed the information on him.
The hosts explained that while they were reprimanded for the first offence, they were given a severe punishment for the second. “This is Perez’s second breach of Article 55.10 of the race and following a clear warning from the race director we have decided to impose a five second time penalty on Perez.”
Perez was also given two penalty points on his licence, the first two of the current 12-month period.
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2022 Singapore Grand Prix
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