Perez forced to make pit lane start in Qatar GP

Sergio Perez will have to start this evening's Qatar Grand Prix from pit lane, after his car underwent extensive repair work overnight following his accident in the sprint tace.

Perez was involved in a three-car incident during last night's race. He had been attempting to pass Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg in a single move on lap 11 when there was contact between the Alpine and the Haas.

Squeezed into the middle of a high speed sandwich, Hulkenberg tried to back out but as he did so, Ocon moved across and was clipped into a spin that sent him into the side of Perez.

All three went into the gravel, with Hulkenberg limping home to retire while the others were stuck in place. The "massive" damage to Perez car was clear as he urgently signalled marshals to get hurry up and to the scene to extinguish a fire.

Once the RB19 had been returned to pit lane, the team got to work evaluating its condition and what needed to be done to make it serviceable for today's Grand Prix.

• Read also: Perez caught in 'wrong place, wrong time' in Qatar sprint

Ultimately the team had to work with a replacement chassis. Since the cars were under parc ferme conditions since Friday's qualifying session, the amount of work required on the car then exceeded what was allowed.

FIA sporting regulations state that within two hours of the chequered flag, all cars "must be covered and ready for FIA seals to be applied in order to ensure that they remain secure until the following day"

However the work went beyond the two hours allowed with Red Bull fitting an entirely new power unit to Perez's car with each of the components surpassing the permitted number allowed within the sporting regulations.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported the amount of work done on the car to race control. “Last night the Oracle Red Bull Racing team worked on car number 11, chassis 02, two hours after chequered flag of the sprint.

“A self-declared scrutineering sheet for car 11, chassis 02, was submitted at 14:05 today, 55 minutes before the covers-off time," he continued. "Chassis 01 got damaged beyond repair during the accident in the sprint.

"Chassis 01 and all other components fitted to it at the time of the sprint were covered on time at 23:08, two hours after the chequered flag was shown at the end of the sprint.

“As chassis 02 was assembled without supervision to more than an assembly comprising a survival cell as defined in SR Article 27.2, this has to be considered as a third car available to the competitor.

“As this is not in compliance with SR Articles 27.2 , 40.3 and 40.6 as well as TD021 G, I am referring this matter to the Stewards for their consideration.”

It was subsequently confirmed that that Perez would need to start from pit lane rather than his allotted 13th place on the grid, the standard penalty for similar infringements at previous races.

Williams were deemed to have committed a similar offence at the previous race in Japan after rebuilding Logan Sargeant's car following a qualifying accident. The American was forced to start from pit lane.

Sargeant also received an additional ten-second penalty to serve at his first pit stop: "As a start from pit lane is already imposed for the modification of parts, a further penalty for having a third chassis available was appropriate," the stewards ruled at the time.

But in Perez case, no further penalties were handed down as the stewards concluded that at no point did Red Bull have more than two chassis and additional assemblies ready at the same time.

The team argued that this meant they didn't break the rules, and the stewards accepted the team's interpretation didn’t break the strict letter of the rules - but added that the intention of the rule means it should be reviewed moving forward.

Perez' slender chances of catching team mate Max Verstappen in the drivers championship ended last night with his retirement, making Verstappen impossible to catch in the points and therefore 2023 champion.

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