Grid Penalties: Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez drop for Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Both Williams’ Carlos Sainz and Cadillac’s Sergio Perez are set for grid drops ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, after infringements during qualifying.

Feature image credit: By Courtesy of Pirelli

After qualifying, where Mercedes’ George Russell had cleared a gap of eight tenths to secure pole position for Saturday’s Azerbaijan GP, two drivers were found to be in hot water with the stewards; Sainz and Perez.

Both of them were hit with grid penalties for the upcoming race.

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Carlos Sainz –  5-Place Grid Drop

Of the two grid penalties, the Spaniard’s is the most severe with a drop of five positions after he dragged his Williams into Q3 for the first time this season. This came after the stewards deemed Sainz had failed to slow for yellow flags.

During qualifying a yellow flag was displayed after turn two and on the approach to turn three. Sainz was made aware of this yellow zone, instructed by the team to lift.

However, the Williams driver did not seem it ‘necessary to reduce speed on the straight’ and instead opted to go for a ‘global lift’ covering the consecutive yellow sectors.

Upon the hearing, the stewards did not accept Sainz’s interpretation. They said:

“The Stewards did not accept this interpretation. Where consecutive marshalling sectors are subject to Yellow Flag conditions, a driver must demonstrate a  significant reaction to reduce speed in each individual Yellow marshalling sector.

“A reduction in a subsequent sector cannot retrospectively satisfy the requirement applicable to the preceding Yellow sector. The obligation is also not dependent on the driver’s own assessment of whether the original hazard remains present within a particular part of the Yellow sector.

“The telemetry clearly showed that SAI’s reaction to the Yellow occurred only in Marshalling Sector 5. There was no meaningful reduction in speed in Marshalling Sector 4 which could realistically be attributed to a response to the Yellow.

“Indeed, SAI recorded his fastest time of the session in Marshalling Sector 4.

“The Stewards therefore did not accept that the subsequent lift in Marshalling Sector 5 constituted a sufficient “global” response covering both sectors. This is distinguishable from cases where the telemetry demonstrates a significant response to the Yellow even though the overall sector time reduction is relatively small.”

As a result, Sainz will now drop from ninth to 14th, behind Haas’ Esteban Ocon who will be bumped up to 13th.

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Sergio Perez – 3-Place Grid Drop

Perez’s incident has awarded him with a three place grid drop for the upcoming grand prix, after the stewards had concluded he had impeded the McLaren of Oscar Piastri.

In the hearing, it was confirmed Perez was on a preparation lap between turns 19 and 20, and had received two warnings from the team that the McLaren was approaching. According to the Stewards, there was a speed differential of 52km/h, with the Mexican travelling at 248km/h compared to the Australian’s 300km/h.

Perez, in his preparation, was warming his tyres as Piastri was approaching. As such, did not keep to the right hand side of the track, as per the Race Directors instructions, and it placed him into the path of Piastri, who ultimately had to lift.

In the stewards report, they said:

“The Race Director’s specific traffic-management instructions required a driver on a preparation lap in this section of the circuit to remain on the right-hand side.

“PER [Perez] was warming his tyres and, rather than maintaining a predictable line on the right-hand side, his tyre-warming manoeuvre placed him in the path of the approaching PIA [Piastri].

“PIA consequently had to come off the throttle. PER explained that, in the circumstances, he considered that he had no other reasonable option. PIA confirmed that he had to lift because of PER, although he did not consider that he ultimately lost significant lap time as a consequence.

“The Stewards considered whether the incident was dangerous but, having reviewed the evidence and heard both drivers, determined that it was not. However, PER had received two warnings of PIA approaching and did not manage his preparation lap in accordance with the specific traffic-management instructions.”

Due to Piastri being forced to lift, the stewards had deemed Perez had unnecessarily impeded the McLaren driver and issued the standard penalty for this infringement.

It means Perez will drop to the back of the grid, alongside the two Aston Martins of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, who are set to start at the back of the field with power unit-related grid penalties.

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.