Sergio Perez has escaped a penalty after being investigated for allegedly failing to respect single yellow flags during qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The Mexican driver and a Red Bull representative were summoned to see the stewards over the incident, which occurred during Q2 when George Russell made a trip to the escape road in his Mercedes. After reviewing video, marshalling system and telemetry evidence as part of the investigation, as well as hearing from Perez and the team, the stewards decided that Perez had "acted appropriately to the situation." A document detailing the verdict states: "As Perez approached Turn 11, a single yellow flag was displayed for a car in the escape road. "Perez was warned by his team on the radio at the same time the signals were displayed at the corner. Compared to his previous lap, he lifted 70 metres earlier, braked 50 metres earlier, and carried 14kph less speed into the corner." This means that Perez will retain his position of P3 on the grid for Sunday's race.
Perez felt there was "no problem"
Prior to the outcome of the investigation, Perez explained that he felt there had been no issue in the incident. "I was going into [Turn] 11 and I was told about the yellow flag, so I backed off," he explained to media, including RacingNews365.com , after qualifying. "I think I lost about half a second just from braking. And then there was a green panel afterwards and I just completed a lap and lost half a second, about sixth tenths, so no problem." Perez's teammate Max Verstappen will line up ahead of him in second for the Grand Prix, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc taking pole position.
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