F1 stewards punish Sergio Perez for branding them a 'joke' in Abu Dhabi GP rant

26 November 2023 , 17:32

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Sergio Perez was punished by the F1 stewards (Image: Getty Images)

Sergio Perez has been given a formal warning by the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix stewards for his outburst over the radio after the race.

The Mexican finished second on the road behind only winner Max Verstappen. But he had Charles Leclerc and George Russell close behind him and lost out to both of them after a five-second time penalty was taken into account.

That had been given earlier for a clash with Lando Norris. The two drivers bumped wheels as Perez attempted an overtake, forcing the McLaren man off the track.

Perez felt Norris had gone off the track and gained an advantage by doing so. But he was the one who was given the penalty by the stewards as they felt he had caused an unnecessary collision.

He tried his best to make sure that it wouldn't matter but could not do enough. In the end, both Leclerc and Russell were within four seconds of his Red Bull and so he was denied a podium spot which he felt should have been his.

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Perez vented his frustration over the radio on the in-lap. "I mean, the stewards are a joke, man," he ranted. "I cannot believe, I mean, they have been very bad this year, but this is a joke. That was really a joke."

He was critical again in his post-race interview. "We deserved a lot more today," he fumed. "I think the stewards were very poor today, in my opinion. That, to me... we've seen a lot worse. We touched tyre to tyre, Lando cut the corner, gained time and I still had the penalty."

Asked if he could have left Norris more space, Perez added: "Yeah, but you've got to remember that, when you dive from behind when you go onto the brakes late, you are not in full control of the car. Lando knew I was there and he decided to turn in. We made contact tyre-to-tyre, like I said, and he cut the corner and gained time. I just felt, in my honest opinion, that it was just a racing incident."

Perez was summoned in front of the stewards who, naturally, took a dim view of his public criticism. And they made sure to punish the 33-year-old for his outbursts, handing him an official formal warning.

The stewards noted that Perez made a "genuine and sincere" apology to each of them and accepted that he made his criticism "in the heat of the moment". Those factors, combined with his previous "extremely respectful" behaviour, meant the stewards felt they need not give Perez any further punishment beyond his warning.

Daniel Moxon