Sergio Pérez handed seven place grid penalty for Brazil - First lap collision proves costly for Force India
Published by Christine
Sergio Pérez and Adrian Sutil crashed on the first lap of the United States Grand Prix, knocking both drivers out of the race and bringing out the safety car. Sutil was incensed, swearing over the radio and demanding an apology from the Force India driver. Sauber had been hoping for their first points of the year with Sutil starting in the top ten, but in the end they left with nothing.
Pérez explained the incident as unfortunate, saying: “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, which caused me to make contact with Adrian also. I just didn’t expect Kimi to be in that position.”
The FIA consider it more than unfortunate, saying Pérez “could not reasonably have expected to complete the manoeuvre. His collision with car 99 was reckless.” The governing body have thus handed the Mexican driver a seven place grid penalty for the next race in Brazil.
