Sergio Perez was left bemused by his five-second penalty at the French Grand Prix.
The Mexican was the only driver to run off track in the opening few corners at Paul Ricard and, despite following the correct procedure, was still penalised for gaining an advantage.
“I don’t understand why I got the penalty,” he said post-race. “I did what I’m supposed to do, which is to go around the bollard and you are meant to go slower, but apparently I gained an advantage.
“I have to review to see what I did wrong, but from my point, it’s so hard to judge where you are on track. I ended up behind Hulkenberg, which is where I started, where I was into Turn 1, so I just have to review that.”
At a time when all penalties are being heavily scrutinised, race director Michael Masi explained the deciding factor in Perez’s case.
“In looking at the in-car, particularly when you look at Lance [Stroll] who was immediately behind him, Sergio’s locked up, chosen to go to the left and bypass the bollard and come out in front of both Albon and Magnussen,” he said to RaceFans.
“If Sergio had chosen going out of Turn Six to drop back behind those two cars I think we would have looked at it and said he’s created his own disadvantage effectively and dropped into where he should have.
“When someone rejoins they must firstly rejoin safely and two must not gain a lasting advantage.
“That was part of a discussion that was actually had following Monaco at a drivers’ meeting where the drivers actually requested that they need to be behind, effectively, who they entered [ahead of].”
Closing down on eventual 10th place finisher Pierre Gasly in the final laps, Perez believes the penalty cost him that place as he ended up 12th behind the demoted Daniel Ricciardo.
“I think we had good form,” he said. “We were close to the Renaults and Alfas. In race pace, we were a lot closer today and we deserved some points. But yeah, the points were taken away from us.
“It’s very promising the pace that we had in the race, so I’m pleased with that. We were a lot closer and we’ll see what we can do better next week. Hopefully, we get back to the points.”
