Perez to start Qatar GP from pit lane but avoids further penalty for 'third car'

Sergio Perez will start todays’ Qatar Grand Prix from the pit lane but has avoided a further penalty after Red Bull made significant changes to his F1 car.

Lewis Larkam

08 Oct 2023

Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing RB19 cr

The Mexican qualified 13th for Sunday’s race but a crash involving Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg in the sprint race left his Red Bull car damaged beyond repair.

Red Bull were deemed to have built a chassis to more than an assembly comprising a survival cell - without the FIA’s supervision.

This work also took place outside of the time frame all cars are required to be “covered and ready for FIA seals to be applied in order to ensure that they remain secure until the following day.”

Effectively, Red Bull have built a third car and are guilty of the same offence as Williams with Logan Sargeant at the previous race at Suzuka.

Sargeant was handed a pit lane start alongside a 10-second time penalty for the race.

However, unlike Sargeant, Perez has not received an additional time penalty.

What the stewards said:

"During the Sprint session Oracle Red Bull Racing car number 11 suffered an accident where Chassis 01 got damaged beyond repair. Following that Chassis 01 was dismantled to a state that does not meet the criteria of a car as outlined in Article 27.2 anymore. Subsequently all dismantled parts as well as the damaged survival cell were covered in accordance with Article 40.6.

"After covering Chassis 01, Chassis 02 was then assembled to a level exceeding the definition in Article 27.2, which defines the state of assembly for a chassis to be considered to be a car. This has been done without supervision and parts have been modified without the Approval of the Technical Delegate and outside of the time window defined in Article 40.6. A self-scrutineering form was submitted.

"Whilst the assembly of Chassis 02 outside of the period of two hours after the end of the Sprint session and before the commencement of the working period according to The Stewards Art 40.8 is not in compliance with Article 40.6 and Article 40.9 has also been breached, the Stewards acknowledge the fact that neither Article 27.1 nor Article 27.2 was breached as the competitor at no time had more than two cars available for use as no more than two assemblies comprising a survival cell as defined in Article 12.1 of the Technical Regulations and additional components were used at the same time.

"The Stewards note that the way Article 27.2 was interpreted by the competitor concerned, whilst not breaching the regulations, might not be fully in line with the intention of the relevant regulation and therefore recommend that the issue will be further discussed and clarified in the Sporting Advisory Committee.

"As the respective car is already required to start from the pit lane following another decision (document 65), no further amendment of the Starting Grid for the race is required."

Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing crashed out of the race. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 18, Qatar Grand Prix, Doha, — Sergio Perez (MEX) Red Bull Racing crashed out of the race. Formula 1…

Red Bull have also fitted a complete new power unit to Perez’s car, exceeding his allowance for the season and triggering a pit lane start.

It continues a torrid weekend for Perez, whose retirement in the sprint saw Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen crowned world champion for the third time.