F1 News: Sergio Perez Calls For More Consistency In Penalties After Australian GP Mishap

Sergio Perez calls for more consistency in penalties following Fernando Alonso's 20-second penalty in Australia.

Author:
Lydia Mee
Apr 05, 2024

Following the recent Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull F1 driver Sergio Perez voiced concerns regarding the inconsistency in Formula 1 stewarding and penalties, particularly after Fernando Alonso was penalised.

Key Takeaways:

Sergio Perez supports the penalty given to Fernando Alonso but fears such decisions lack consistency.
Perez draws attention to his own experience and other unpunished incidents to highlight stewarding irregularities.
The Red Bull driver suggests the introduction of permanent stewards or improved communication within the FIA to ensure consistency.

undefined — Nov 15, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez of Mexico during media

Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Red Bull's Sergio Perez has publicly expressed his apprehensions concerning the stewarding consistency within Formula 1. This comes after a contentious decision to penalise Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso with a 20-second time reduction for his role in causing George Russell to crash during the race's final lap in Melbourne. Stewards found Alonso slowed significantly earlier than usual, in addition to changing gears unexpectedly, leading to the penalty.

While Perez agreed with the decision against Alonso, he voiced a larger concern over the stewarding consistency, fearing that similar incidents might not be similarly penalised in the future. The Mexican driver commented, as quoted by Motorsportweek.com:

“My take is that it was definitely a bit too much over the limit, I’d say a bit unnecessary to do so. But my biggest fear is that we might see this incident again this weekend, or next weekend, and probably nothing will happen. That’s my biggest fear.

“Because we’ve been struggling a lot to keep the consistency within the penalties. For example, in Jeddah there was a block at 300 kph, two cars, [Oliver] Bearman and [Alex] Albon, no penalty. I blocked Hulkenberg, he lost half a tenth. He goes faster on the lap after, I get three places.

“I think the biggest talking point should be consistency. If incidents like this are going to be penalised, they have to be penalised every single weekend. Because as a driver it hurts a lot when you work your ass off and you see this inconsistency.”

The idea of having permanent stewards was put forward as a potential solution to achieve greater consistency. Perez supported this, suggesting that either a stable team of stewards or enhanced communication within the FIA could contribute to a more uniform application of rules. However, he also acknowledged the potential downside of such an approach, including the risk of personal biases affecting decisions. The Red Bull driver explained:

“Definitely.

“I think either permanent stewards or more communication within the FIA. To keep improving race after race to have this consistency.

“Because it cannot be that you have, for example, what I had last weekend. I blocked Hulkenberg, he lost half a tenth, he went quicker the lap after, and the damage was minimal. And then you have [Valtteri] Bottas at 300 kph, two cars in a very unsafe place, and no penalties. So we need that improvement and that regularity within the FIA.”

Perez concluded:

“It feels like there is a lot of disconnection weekend to weekend. When there is a change of stewards, it feels like there is no continuity of what has happened in the last 10 races, for example.

“That’s my point of view, there is no regularity, there is no continuity of facts. More than the regularity, I think the continuity, the communication.

“It’s like with the car setup, if you are not learning race by race what works for your car, you are never going to find the right setup. So it’s the same with the stewards; if they are not communicating weekend after weekend the incidents that have happened and so on, I find it really hard to find the right compromise.”