Perez handed eight-place penalty for Singapore GP

Sergio Perez was handed a combined eight-place grid penalty for two yellow flag infringements in Q2 at Marina Bay.

The Mexican has called the rules inconsistent and unfair after he received a five-place grid drop for failing to slow down sufficiently as Jenson Button pulled off to the side of the track in the final sector. His penalty comes after Nico Rosberg was unpunished despite setting the pole position time at the Hungarian Grand Prix after passing through another yellow flag sector

He also has an additional three-place penalty for overtaking Esteban Gutierrez in that same yellow flag zone, though he can have no such complaints about that.

The stewards’ statement described how Perez had ‘two corners in which to slow down significantly and failed to do so’. They also indicated the Force India driver should have given further caution as Turn’s 14 and 16 are ‘blind corners where the driver would not have known if the track had a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track, and/or marshals were working on or beside the track’.

Perez spoke out against the decision, saying there was sufficient proof he had followed the rules and that his fellow countryman was ‘unnecessarily slow’.

“I basically had to overtake safely, and I showed how much I braked, how much slower I entered that corner,” he told Autosport.

“There was a difference in speed because the corner before was green, and then you arrive in the yellow flag zone, and you see a car driving unnecessarily slow because he had aborted his lap.

“The rules say you have to show a significant lift, and it’s what I showed.”

FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting had indicated the stewards would get tougher on the issue, following the events at the Rosberg incident at the Hungaroring, nevertheless it has left Perez unhappy with the inconsistency of the penalties.

After qualified tenth, the Mexican will likely start in 18th, therefore, requiring a big fight back if he is to capitalise on the pace his team has had all weekend in Singapore. A key weekend in Force India’s battle with Williams for fourth in the Constructors’ standings.