Gearbox penalty for Perez after FP3 crash

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Sergio Perez will receive a five-place grid penalty for the Grand Prix of Europe having needed a new gearbox due to a crash in final practice.

Having been third quickest in FP2, Perez was on a quick lap at the end of FP3 when he lost the rear exiting Turn 15 and damaged the right rear corner of his Force India against the barrier. The incident happened right at the end of the session and caused practice to end under a red flag, with Perez sixth overall.

Force India Deputy team principal Bob Fernley has confirmed Perez needed to change his gearbox as a result of the impact, which carries an automatic five-place grid penalty to be applied after the end of qualifying.

After Perez finished FP2 in third place, it was team-mate Nico Hulkenberg who was third quickest in the final practice session as Force India continued its encouraging pace on the Baku City Circuit.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.