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Friday 11 September 2020 17:44, UK
Sergio Perez's disappointing build-up to the Tuscan GP took a further turn on Friday after he was handed a one-place penalty for causing a collision with Kimi Raikkonen in Mugello practice.
Perez, who found out on Wednesday night that he had lost his F1 seat to Sebastian Vettel with Aston Martin (currently Racing Point), made contact with Raikkonen's Alfa Romeo during the race simulations in second practice.
The Mexican driver had just exited the pits when he collided into Raikkonen into Turn One.
He had hoped the fact it was F1's first day at Mugello would spare him a penalty, but FIA stewards gave him a grid penalty after investigating the incident and deciding Perez was "wholly to blame".
"There was a blue flag waved at him prior to turn one and it was apparent that he saw car seven (Raikkonen) in his mirrors," read their verdict.
"The driver argued that the pit exit is extremely long and he had reached a high speed by the time he was passed by car seven and that he was unable to take a different approach to the turn.
"We consider there is some merit in mitigating [a] penalty and therefore reduce the normal penalty for an offence of this type from three grid positions to one, noting that a grid penalty is appropriate as car 11 was exiting the pits, whereas car seven was on a fast lap and therefore the driver of car 11 was wholly to blame."
The crash caused Raikkonen to spin, leading to a red flag of the session.
