Sergio Perez has slammed the stewards at this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix for their delayed punishment after qualifying.
Officials were very strict about track limits rules throughout the session, with several drivers experiencing the frustration of having their lap times deleted. Perez was among those affected, as he lost a couple of times almost straight away during Q2.
Eventually he managed a lap which initially stood and was quick enough for the Red Bull man to secure a place in Q3. But shortly after, the warning came that he was under investigation after appearing to go off the track again during the lap that secured his chance to compete for pole position.
As it had been left too late, it was decided that it would be investigated after the sessions. And following a meeting between Perez and the stewards, it was decided his Q3 times would be deleted and, instead of fourth place, he will start Saturday's Sprint from 13th.
Reacting to that punishment, the Mexican bemoaned the way the incident was handled and wished the lap time had been immediately deleted like had been the case with many others. "It was a tricky day, going into qualifying from FP1 things didn't feel great so there is a bit of understanding needed from our side and hopefully tomorrow we are able to recover," he said.
"The car was in and out for me during the day and during quali, I wasn't able to get into the rhythm. It is disappointing to lose fourth place, the track limits are very tight here this season, but it is frustrating that the team weren't told my lap time had been deleted during Q2."
But he was optimistic that this weekend provides an unusual opportunity to recover places before the main event on Sunday. Perez added: "We have the Sprint tomorrow to make up ground and a long race ahead, we have to keep our head down and push hard to make progress and put us in a good position for Sunday."
Meanwhile, pole-sitter Max Verstappen had nothing at all to complain about as he put himself in the best possible position to dominate once again at the Red Bull Ring. "We can definitely be happy with the result today," he declared.
"On the final lap in Q3, turn one and three weren't the best so I knew the rest of the lap needed to be spot on. I was down on the first and second sector so pushed hard in the final and it paid off. It was a good session and of course it's good to be close to the Ferraris again. This season so far, the car has been good in the race compared to qualifying where we've been weaker, so hopefully tomorrow we can be competitive in the sprint."
