Sergio Perez has been handed an eight-place grid penalty for not slowing down enough for yellow flags in qualifying for the Singapore Grand Prix.
The Force India driver failed "to slow sufficiently" when passing the stricken Haas of Romain Grosjean, and later on slowed down, but not enough and passed the other Haas of Esteban Gutierrez in another yellow flag zone.
"The driver had two corners in which to slow down significantly and failed to do so, both of which were blind corners (including one where the accident had taken place and where the damaged car was still in the barriers) and where the driver would not have known if the track had a hazard wholly or partly blocking the track, and/or marshals were working on or beside the track," said the stewards in a statement.
However, Perez was fuming with the ruling.
"The driver I passed was driving unnecessarily slow. The stewards didn't even bother to ask him what were his reasons to be that slow," he told Autosport. "I don't know his reasons, whether he had a problem or whether he aborted the lap and so went so slow."
"I basically had to overtake safely, and I showed how much I braked, how much slower I entered that corner," he continued. "There was a difference in speed because the corner before was green, and then you arrive into the yellow flag zone, and you see a car driving unnecessarily slow because he had aborted his lap.
"The rules say you have to show a significant lift, and it's what I showed."
Perez will now start in 18th place after qualifying in 10th.
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