Christian Horner believes the stewards have been "very harsh" on Sergio Perez in the wake of his grid penalty after qualifying for the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Mexican thought he was going to be starting the Sprint race from fourth, behind the two Ferraris and pole-sitter, team-mate Max Verstappen. But he was summoned to the stewards after the session as they investigated his hot laps during Q2.
He had already had some times scrubbed, but his final hot lap initially stood and booked him a place in Q3. But footage later showed he had exceeded track limits during the course of that lap – and so he was slapped with a penalty.
