Sergio Perez believes the stewards got it right in awarding him a drive-through penalty and three penalty points for driving into Sergey Sirotkin at the Singapore Grand Prix.
Perez’s torrid race in Singapore began on lap one when he put Force India teammate teammate Esteban Ocon into the wall at Turn 3. The Mexican was then running comfortably clear of his midfield rivals before an early stop dropped him behind a group of cars who had to yet to pit including the Williams of Sirotkin.
While battling the Williams, Perez turned into Sirotkin — who he had been stuck behind for several laps — while the pair ran side by side through Turns 17 and 18. Perez was hit with a drive-through penalty for his actions, eventually classifying in 16th place.
When asked for his thoughts on the incident, Perez said: “I have to see the incident. I closed the door earlier than I should have so I have to double check but I think the penalty was fair. It was hard racing, he was defending his position very hard, fighting very hard, moving a lot under braking and a lot of lock-ups under braking.
“And then as I was going through him, I tried to close the door but I think he was too close. In the end not ideal. It was very costly, but I don’t think it would have changed anything on my result.
“I knew my race was going out of my hands, it was so hard to overtake. I was just burning my brakes, my engine, my tyres, so it was a massive frustration.”
Perez was also issued three penalty points to his superlicence, taking his total for the rolling 12-month period to five. Drivers are issued an automatic one-race ban when that number reaches 12.