Helmut Marko: “Strange” Lewis Hamilton received no penalty at 2020 British GP

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko has questioned the decision to hand Sergio Perez a three-place grid penalty for the upcoming F1 Spanish Grand Prix.

Perez will carry a grid drop into the Barcelona race for driving his heavily-damaged Red Bull back to the pits after a late crash in last weekend’s wet and wild Canadian Grand Prix.

Red Bull were also fined €25,000 after admitting they told Perez to get back to the pits under his own steam in order to avoid a Safety Car period when teammate Max Verstappen was leading the race.

In his latest column for Speedweek, Marko recalled Lewis Hamilton winning on three wheels following a late puncture at the 2020 British Grand Prix and questioned why the Mercedes driver went unpunished at the time.

“Three places back for Perez on the Spanish grid because he brought his damaged car into the pits instead of putting it aside in Montreal,” the 82-year-old Austrian said.

“I think that’s too harsh a punishment, because in a race with changeover conditions, you have to bring your car back, especially when it’s not immediately clear what the damage looks like.

“Perez’s rear-view mirrors were dirty and he couldn’t see what the rear looked like. We, on the other hand, could see from the data that the suspension was OK.

“Of course we try to bring the car back and, ideally, be able to fight for points again. The race stewards then announced that parts of his car had fallen off.

“I remember Lewis Hamilton once crossing the finish line on three wheels at Silverstone and winning. Strange there was no penalty then.”

Verstappen went on to claim his sixth victory of the season in Montreal to strengthen his advantage at the top of the world championship.

“Victory in Montreal, thanks to the Verstappen factor, as I like to call it,” Marko added. “Once again, Max Verstappen’s very special qualities were the deciding factor in him winning a race that most other drivers probably wouldn’t have won.”