Sergio Perez has kept his Singapore Grand Prix victory after Formula 1 stewards concluded their investigation into his potential safety car infringement, handing him a five-second penalty.
Red Bull's Perez took the chequered flag ahead of Charles Leclerc with his Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz completing the podium. However, his Singapore win was subject to an investigation following an alleged infringement behind the safety car.
The Mexican took the chequered flag 7.5 seconds ahead of Leclerc in a bid to try and avert any potential punishment and that has proved to be a big enough gap. Asked about the safety car infringement after the race, Perez replied: “I have no idea what is going on.”
The safety car issue stemmed from an incident where Perez, who is required to stay within a 10-car distance of the safety car, had dropped too far back.
Sky Sports F1's Anthony Davidson explained: "The reason he's doing this is to hang back to allow him faster speed through turns 22 and 23 to put more tyre energy through that right-hand side of his car.
"But it's often quite hard to judge that 10-car distance from inside and actually you can forget as well. It's a long-hard race for all of them - so that's one area they could be looking at."
There was also a second incident stewards were looking at where Perez put pressure on the safety car to go faster, gesturing his hands to get it to speed up.
Ultimately Perez had been warned twice for dropping too far behind the safety car on separate occasions during the race before a third transgression, which resulted in his time penalty.
The race itself was particularly chaotic after rain delayed the star by over an hour. Lewis Hamilton also hit the barrier during the Grand Prix, which led to his eventual ninth-placed finish.
Max Verstappen, who could have sealed the title this weekend, will have to keep waiting for his second world championship as he finished seventh. On track he had suffered a lock-up as well as a poor start off the line that saw him drop back multiple places.
Bit it was Perez's day to remember as he enjoyed one of the best drives of his life to finish ahead of the two Ferrari drivers, Leclerc in second and Sainz in third.
Top 10 result: Perez, Leclerc, Sainz, Norris, Ricciardo, Stroll, Verstappen, Vettel, Hamilton, Gasly
