- US GP - Race
Perez gets seven-place grid penalty for Sutil clash
Sergio Perez has been hit with a seven-place grid penalty for Brazil after the first-lap collision with Sauber's Adrian Sutil which forced both men out of the United States Grand Prix.
Perez clumsily dived down the inside of Turn 14 to pass Kimi Raikkonen and Sutil, but ended up clouting into the Finn and then twice bouncing off the Sauber - an incident which brought out the safety car. Perez managed to limp back to the pits but the damage to his right front tyre was too severe to continue, while Sutil's race was over immediately.
After the race, the stewards released an official statement confirming the penalty, which will be served at the penultimate round at Interlagos, saying Perez "could not reasonably have expected to complete the manoeuvre." The statement also described the collision as "reckless".
Perez was frustrated with the collision as he felt there was a reasonable chance of scoring points in Austin.
"What happened today is really unfortunate," Perez said. "I made a move on Adrian at Turn 15 when he left the door open, so I went up the inside. Then Adrian started to close the door and I had to try and brake later than him. By doing so I was unable to avoid contact with Kimi [Raikkonen], which caused me to make contact with Adrian also. I just didn't expect Kimi to be in that position.
"It's a big shame because I had a great chance to keep up my run of points finishes and I was determined to do well in such an important race. I feel very sorry for all my fans who came to support me this weekend and I'm disappointed I could not give them a race to remember."
On top of the penalty, Perez has also been given two penalty points on his super licence.