28/11/2023
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez has been given a formal warning following comments he made in reference to a stewards decision.
The Mexican was handed a 5s time penalty after colliding with Lando Norris. The penalty meaning that though he crossed the line in second he subsequently dropped to fourth.
Entering Turn 6, notwithstanding that he was alongside the McLaren, the Mexican was deemed to have dived in late, missed the apex of the corner and understeered towards the outside of the corner colliding with the Briton.
In addition to the time penalty he was given 2 penalty points thereby bringing his total for the 12 month period to 7.
"I mean, the stewards are a joke," he commented over the team radio at the end of the race. "I cannot believe, I mean, they have been very bad this year, but this is a joke. That was really a joke."
Having been summoned by the stewards they explained to the Red Bull driver that while they had no issue with someone disagreeing with their decisions, comments that amount to personal insults are a breach of the International Sporting Code.
The stewards admitted that they were obviously conflicted since they were the subject of the radio statements and that while normally this would be referred to the next panel of stewards as this is the final event of the season, the matter needed to be dealt with today.
Perez made a "genuine and sincere" apology to each of the stewards and explained that he made the comments in the heat of the moment and did not consider the fact that they would be broadcast, and the impact of that.
He expressed his regret that his comments caused offence to anyone or might harm to the sport, which he said he was concerned to avoid.
The stewards accepted his statement and his apology, noting that the Mexican is not known for making such comments and has always been extremely respectful in stewards hearings.
He was also reminded that the stewards are always available to explain their decisions when requested by a driver or team representative.
Perez, his team manager and the stewards seemingly had a constructive discussion about the use and broadcast of team radio messages, while the original incident that led to his outburst was also reviewed in detail, and although he still disagreed with the decision he said he could understand the stewards' perspective.
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