Sergio Perez and Yuki Tsunoda have escaped with a reprimand from the FIA stewards at the Qatar Grand Prix.
The duo, who qualified 16th and 17th for the sprint, were summoned by the stewards for an alleged failure to follow race director Rui Marques' instruction for the minimum time between safety car lines on the track.
Marques had ordered drivers to stay below a lap-time of 1:40.0 between the two lines when not on a flying lap, with 17 drivers in total flagged for doing so.
Only Nico Hulkenberg, Fernando Alonso, and Esteban Ocon were not adjudged to have broken the instruction, but Perez and Tsunoda were the only two to be summoned - and ordered to attend the stewards at 14:00 local time on Saturday.
It was Perez's first reprimand of the season and Tsunoda's second.
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Reasons for the decision
The stewards outlined their reason for giving Perez and Tsunoda a reprimand. According to Sergio Perez's official FIA decision document: "The driver of Car 11 stated he was focussed on not impeding any other car and was trying to maintain a gap to the cars in front. When questioned on any potential sporting advantage he stated that quite the opposite was the case as his tyres did not reach optimal temperature. The Stewards accept this explanation."
It went on to add: "The Stewards note that the Race Director’s notes were issued in accordance with Article 12.2.1 i) of the International Sporting Code, for the “safe and orderly” conduct of the event. In this case, there is no evidence of any unsafe or disorderly conduct (such as unnecessary impeding) however a breach has still occurred, due to the failure to comply with the SC2 to SC1 time, and hence the penalty of a Reprimand (Driving) is imposed."
As for Tsunoda: "The driver of Car 22 stated he was trying to stay on his delta and was actually 2 seconds below the delta prior to the last corner when he backed right off to let other cars past. The team representative noted that the SC2 to SC1 time was 6 seconds lower than that of last year. However the Stewards determined that the driver could have closed the gap prior to reaching the last corner.
"The Stewards note that the Race Director’s notes were issued in accordance with Article 12.2.1 i) of the International Sporting Code, for the “safe and orderly” conduct of the event. In this case, there is no evidence of any unsafe or disorderly conduct (such as unnecessary impeding) however a breach has still occurred, due to the failure to comply with the SC2 to SC1 time, and hence the penalty of a Reprimand (Driving) is imposed."
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