Mexican dropped behind team-mate Stroll to fifth after stewards penalised him for blue flags rules transgression in front of Hamilton
Sunday 16 August 2020 20:30, UK
Sergio Perez believes stewards were "harsh" to hand him a five-second penalty for ignoring blue flags after he lost out on fourth place at the Spanish GP.
The returning Racing Point driver had five seconds added to his final race time and was relegated to fifth behind team-mate Lance Stroll, who finished within three seconds of the Mexican at the chequered flag.
Stewards said Perez had "ignored blue flags from at least Turn 6 to Turn 1 of the following lap".
But Perez did not see it quite the same way.
"The penalty was harsh," he told Sky Sports F1. "I got the call out of [turn] nine and into 10 Lewis was very far, so the first opportunity I thought I had was turn one because the final sector is very narrow, very tight and it can only go badly.
"So I thought he is going to lose more time if I give the position than waiting and giving the position back into Turn One.
"I got the penalty so I don't know if something changed while I was not here, but I've seen a lot worser than that and people get away with it."
Although Perez dropped a position, it did ultimately not change the team's final points haul from Barcelona as they moved ahead of Ferrari and McLaren into third in the Constructors' Championship.
"It was a good race overall for our team," added Perez about Racing Point's four-five finish. "I'm happy at least we didn't lose out on the points as Lance got them.
"A lot of points for the team and they've done a great job with the strategy as well, Making the one-stop work was not an easy one, but pleased with that."
The 21-year-old Canadian finished fourth, one spot ahead of team-mate Perez, and discussed his impudent move up the inside of Bottas before the first corner, as well as looking forward to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa in a fortnight.
He added: "The start really made my race. I had a great launch off the line, managed to get Sergio (Perez), the Mercedes of (Valtteri) Bottas. From there I saw a gap on the inside, went for it and that really set me up for a great race.
"That's what racing's all about. I did it for the TV time, you know? I said 'I'm not sitting here in fourth, get past the Mercedes for a few laps, it'll feel good!'
"I'm glad I got away with it - it's a bit of a lottery breaking on the inside, but I had enough grip to stick it.
"I'm looking forward to [the next race]. In theory it should be a good track for our car and a Formula 1 car really comes alive around Spa, you get that real feel of what it's like to push the car to the limit. I've also got Belgian blood, so it'll be nice to go back."
