Sergio Perez has been given a one-place grid penalty for his collision with Kimi Raikkonen during the second practice session at Mugello.
Perez had rejoined the track after pitting to switch from soft to medium tyres when the pair made contact at San Donato, turn one.The stewards noted Perez “was warned by his team of the approach of car seven [Raikkonen] and car 23 [Alexander Albon] as he was leaving the pit exit.”
“There was a blue flag waved at him prior to turn one and it was apparent that he saw car seven in his mirrors.
“The driver argued that the pit exit is extremely long and he had reached a high speed by the time he was passed by car seven and that he was unable to take a different approach to the turn.”
The stewards said they took previous practice incidents into consideration, such as Valtteri Bottas’s reprimand for colliding with Romain Grosjean at Yas Marina last year, and an incident involving Sebastian Vettel in Bahrain five years ago, when no action was taken. On this occasion they decided “there is some merit in mitigating [a] penalty and therefore reduce the normal penalty for an offence of this type from three grid positions to one.”
“A grid penalty is appropriate as car 11 was exiting the pits, whereas car seven was on a fast lap and therefore the driver of car 11 was wholly to blame,” the stewards added.
Perez said the configuration of the pit lane exit at Mugello could contribute to incidents.
“It’s very narrow and long the pit lane exit,” he said. “It’s obviously the first time we are here.
“The stewards are considering it. They think that it should be changed, the pit lane exit, because it goes far too long at it doesn’t give you an angle when you are in the pit lane exit so it can cause a bit of an accident.”
Radio messages from Perez-Raikkonen collision
| To Perez | Box box. |
| To Perez | Pit lane. |
| To Perez | Racing Ocon and Raikkonen, Racing Ocon and Raikkonen. |
| To Perez | It’ll be Raikkonen and Albon actually. |
| Perez | Oh. Sorry. I locked up into turn one and I touched him. |
| To Perez | OK Checo I think we have to box for front wing. Take care on the way in. |
This article will be updated
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Adam (@rocketpanda)
11th September 2020, 17:26
Damn. Has Perez broken any windows lately?
Postreader
11th September 2020, 18:01
Mistook the darker red of the Alfa Romeo for Vettel’s Ferrari, perhaps?
Jelle van der Meer (@)
11th September 2020, 18:19
What is this for penalty – 1 grid place – didn’t even know such a penalty existed.
Should have been a normal 3 place grid penalty and 2 penalty points on his license.
Perez was very clearly at fault – he was warned and shouldn’t have been anywhere near Raikonnen, his “locked up” is a very poor excuse. Also what is Racing Point saying “Racing Ocon and Raikkonen” twice while running practise.
minnis (@minnis)
11th September 2020, 18:26
@jelle-van-der-meer as far as I know the stewards can award a penalty of any number of grid places. Three and five are common but not necessitated by the rules.
As for the harshness, I feel this was spot on – yes, Perez was clearly at fault, but what harm was done? Raikkonen lost out on a bit of time in a non-profits paying practise session. If this was a race, then I’d agree with you, but it’s a practise session so i reckon this was spot on.
As for why racing point said “racing Ocon and Raikkonen”, I suppose it’s easier than saying “you will be driving alongside Ocon and Raikkonen but not racing for position as it’s not the race” is a bit of a mouthful!!
John H (@john-h)
11th September 2020, 22:12
Punishing the consequences rather than the crime. Hmmm, not sure I agree with that.
Postreader
12th September 2020, 11:47
@john-h I think just about every crime scientist and criminologist in the world would have something to say about that. I mean, legalist retribution is so iron age…
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
11th September 2020, 23:58
@jelle-van-der-meer
I believe it’s only been issued once previously in the past decade – to a driver from the same team, as it happens:
https://www.racefans.net/2016/07/30/hulkenberg-handed-one-place-grid-penalty/
Velocityboy (@velocityboy)
11th September 2020, 18:22
Reading Perez’s explanation it seems he forgot that the car comes equipped with brakes as standard equipment.
Dave
11th September 2020, 18:54
Oh. Just after announcing departure.
marcusbreese (@marcusbreese)
11th September 2020, 20:16
After his little altercation with Grosjean earlier in FP1, I think he might be in a bit of a mood at the moment. Understandably.
Balue (@balue)
11th September 2020, 21:00
@marcusbreese He always was an angry driver, but now it’s starting to look a bit like old-timers on their way out like Coulthard, Schumacher etc. where it’s just frustration boiling over. There will no doubt be more to come.
Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
11th September 2020, 21:25
Perez is blind? After 10 years or so of racing Formula 1 he don’t know that cars have a brake pedal?
No wonder they don’t want him at Aston Martin …
regs (@regs)
11th September 2020, 23:44
Kimi was in blind spot. The moment he notices Kimi, he tried to break, but it was late.
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
12th September 2020, 6:21
Except he was warned on the radio and had a blue flag waving right on his face at the pit exit
TSmith
11th September 2020, 21:40
That pit lane exit is a recipe for collisions and close-calls during the race. Any driver exiting the pit lane will want to take the first corner as fast as possible. They’re racing. Any driver approaching from the track will be cutting directly across the line that the exiting driver will be taking in order to make the corner. It’s literally a setup where those paths criss-cross at an angle rather than run parallel.
They need to scrub a hundred meters of the pit exit line off the end to give exiting drivers an earlier chance to begin moving towards the racing line before the corner, so their path and those of the drivers on track will be more parallel.