Ferrari call for penalty over Perez’s ‘two' Safety Car infringements
Ferrari F1 team boss Mattia Binotto said Red Bull’s Sergio Perez should be punished for a Safety Car infringement during the Singapore Grand Prix.
Perez held off Charles Leclerc to win an incident-packed wet-dry race in Singapore that featured two Safety Cars and three Virtual Safety Car periods.
But Perez’s second victory of the season is under threat, with the Mexican facing an investigation for failing to keep close enough to the Safety Car before the race restarted.
Article 55.10 of the F1 sporting regulations state that the leader must remain within 10 car lengths of the Safety Car.
Perez was also seen drawing his car alongside the Safety Car and gesticulating as he demanded the pace picked up amid concerns over his tyre temperatures in the tricky conditions.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the race, Ferrari team principal Binotto said he believes Perez - who won the race by 7.5s - should be in line for a total 10-second time penalty.
“Very curious to see [the outcome of the stewards’ hearing],” Binotto said. “There were two infringements behind Safety Cars, so it should be twice penalty, but we can only trust what they decide.
Binotto added: “The last time it happened I think it was Giovinazzi in 2020, I think it was a five-second penalty. But it’s difficult to judge.
“We’ll leave it to the stewards but hopefully it can change the final result.”
In contrast, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner downplayed the incident, describing it as a “non-issue”.
“I think we can probably pull up over the last 10 years a whole bunch of precedents for this kind of thing,” he told Sky.
“Formation laps, Safety Car laps, drivers behind further down the queue. There’s so many precedents for this.
“For us, really, it’s a non-issue. They asked us to close up, we closed up immediately.”
