12/03/2024
NEWS STORY
Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda were both handed post-race penalties for unsafe releases during today's race, leaving the Mexican just 4 penalty points shy of a race ban.
Perez was handed a 5 second time penalty and 1 penalty point for his misdemeanour, when he was released in an unsafe manner and Fernando Alonso had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
What made the situation worse was the fact that Perez left the pits when there was a red light showing, indicating that he should not leave his pit box.
Therefore the stewards imposed a 5 second time penalty and 1 penalty point.
At RB, the incident involving Tsunoda related to the Japanese driver being released unsafely from his garage during the reconnaissance lap into the path Lando Norris, who had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
Tsunoda admitted that he did not see the Number 1 in his team signalling not to come out as his attention was diverted towards exiting the car from the garage. He apologized for his oversight.
An unsafe release during the race (which would include the reconnaissance lap) would typically attract a 5 second time penalty, which is what the stewards imposed.
In addition, for an infringement of this nature, it would be appropriate to award 1 penalty point, however given that this took place during the reconnaissance lap as opposed to the race proper, the stewards opted not to impose the penalty point.
The situation for Perez is particularly worrying for the penalty point awarded today brings him to 8 for the 12 month period, leaving him just 4 points away from a race ban.
Any driver who receives 12 penalty points within a 12 months period automatically receives a one-race ban and the Mexican has collected 8 in the last 10 races, beginning in Singapore last year for his collision with Alex Albon.
Further penalty points were awarded in Japan (4) for overtaking Fernando Alonso under the Safety Car and subsequently colliding with Kevin Magnussen, and Abu Dhabi (2) for colliding with Lando Norris.
A further 4 points in the next 15 races would result in an automatic race ban.
"It's a shame that we got that penalty," said Perez of today's penatly, "but luckily it didn't hurt our race. I think in these scenarios, I was quite close to Max and everyone was coming in at the same time, we just need a wider pit lane."
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