Sergio Perez says he and Force India disagree with the two penalties he received after qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
Both penalties were in response to Perez’s driving in a section of the trackcovered by double waved yellow flags. The stewards ruled he failed to slow sufficiently and overtook Esteban Gutierrez.
“Today we recovered from a difficult start to get to Q3,” said Perez on social media, “but when everything seemed to be going alright, we are faced with the eight positions penalty because I supposedly didn’t respect the yellow flags during my Q2 lap.”
“Neither I or Sahara Force India agree with this decision because we checked with telemetry that I slowed down more than six tenths on that lap and because there are always inconsistencies with FIA’s decisions.”
“Unfortunately the decision is taken and there’s nothing we can do about it.”
During the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend Nico Rosberg was investigated for a similar infraction in qualifying but was allowed to keep his pole position after the stewards decided he had reduced his speed sufficiently.
In Austria three drivers were given grid penalties for speeding in a yellow flag area while others were cleared.
Richard (@rick1984)
17th September 2016, 23:17
I thought after hungary charlie said they would just vsc or red flag qualy when theres a crash to stop these sorta incidents.
And he defo passed under yellow! It was shown on the c4f1 highlights.
Jabbadap
18th September 2016, 1:47
There’s obvious reason why there won’t be red flag in such situation. If there’s a yellow flags(or even double yellow) on sector 1,2 or 3 why would driver who have passed that sector on green should loose his flying lap. Serious accidents are of course whole different matter, which always should stop the session, if it other vice puts someones life in danger.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th September 2016, 23:25
As others mentioned, I also thought that Charlie would implement his post-Hungary ideas. A red flag would’ve made it clear enough.
I don’t know, but maybe they should say more clearly that improving on an already competitive laptime after encountering double yellow flags is forbidden. Alonso was ahead of both Grosjean and Button and he improved his laptime and that was fine. With a red flag, that would not have been possible. But Perez was behind both…
I feel like Perez should feel lucky about FIA’s inconsistencies. Because in such a tight track, with so many blind corners, and TWO CARS waiting to be recovered, he could’ve never known if there were marshalls on track (which there were, because they were recovering Button’s car), if the track was clear ahead, if there were more cars involved, others could’ve slowed down more than him (like Gutierrez) and so on.
And in any case, he overtook under yellows. That’s a penalty right there, and quite an obvious one.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th September 2016, 3:30
I pretty sure that’s 2017.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
18th September 2016, 9:38
@peartree @fer-no65 Charlie Whiting indicated that it would be implemented immediately, but just like his opinion on technical issues, whether they get implemented immediately or thrown into a melting pot for the Strategy Group to twist/ignore is unclear.
There’s certainly plenty of words about it being implemented immediately, but the wording is wooly enough to be meaningless under scrutiny.
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10516306/qualifying-to-be-red-flagged-for-double-yellow-flags
glynh (@glynh)
17th September 2016, 23:37
I would rather that drivers just respected yellow flags but as racers it’s their job to squeeze every bit of time out of a lap so I can understand their frustration.
A simple solution would be a percentage rule:
Yellow flag – 20% slower than top sector time.
Double yellows – 40% slower than top sector time
That would hopefully stop stewards having to do a best guess on what slowing down enough is.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
18th September 2016, 6:56
How would a driver calculate what 120% of his fastest sector time is? And no driver will ever continue on a lap if they have to go 8 seconds slower in a 40 second sector.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
18th September 2016, 6:56
@glynh
glynh (@glynh)
18th September 2016, 9:55
@mashiat they all have a time on screen, similar to under a virtual safety car and yellows automatically show on their screen which could easily include a time.
The percentages were an example but a yellow flag should drastically slow your lap. Although I get @bascb point that it’s different on a straight to corners and it would be complicated, although still more fair, to have different sector times for each track.
And I’ve just realised that I’ve ended up with a less strict virtual safety car…
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2016, 7:22
I don’t think you can apply percentages. On a tight track, going into a blind corner, a driver should really drive with the expectation of finding a car or Marshalls in his path and coming to a full stop within a few meters. On a straight with clear view it might be enough to just stop accelerating.
Melvin (@)
18th September 2016, 9:31
They should’t let lap times count when they encounter a yellow flag during it in qualy. That way there is no reason to drive fast. I agee that they can be a bit inconsistant, but this was the right decision.
CJRalston
18th September 2016, 9:41
This in not a sport anymore, nor an amusing entertainment nor whatever they want us to believe it is. They act like buffons applying rules inconsistently or subjectively for entertainment or safety sake: too bad this stuff is not entertaining anymore with the same car winning no matter what year after year and safety is a consequence of luck ( I agree with Fer.no65) and engineers’ pen since stewards and Charlie are not able to enforce safety anymore. Maybe it’s a mirror of times but rules are rules and anyone must be subject to them, no matter who he is, how much he pays, how many points he has or how many fans he takes along. Rosberge, Perez and most of all Verstappen deserved penalties. Over. We shouldn’t even stay here to discuss about it.
kyorin
18th September 2016, 9:54
If they want people to slow down, they should initiate a virtual safety car immediately, problem solved. Leaving it to the drivers to slow down by fractions of a second is not going to make the slightest bit of difference if they then hit something going a few mph slower. There is no safety benefit to the rule as it stands currently, and therefore it’s pointless. Either they don’t slow down at all, or they’re forced to slow down significantly, anything else is just a waste of time.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
18th September 2016, 16:27
Consistent Inconsistencies.
PJA (@pja)
20th September 2016, 18:17
It was entirely predictable that after what happened with Rosberg in Hungary that there would be cases of drivers not slowing down enough for yellow flags in qualifying.
It is easy to understand Perez’s frustration at the decision as in his view he probably thinks he did nothing different to what Rosberg did in Hungary. The FIA should really come out and say just how much they expect drivers to slow down in situations like this, otherwise you will always get drivers thinking they can take the risk and try and set a quick time.