Hartley and Perez penalised over F1 formation lap mix-up

Sergio Perez and Brendon Hartley were both handed 30 second penalties from the Formula 1 stewards for failing to follow the correct procedure on the Bahrain Grand Prix formation lap. 

Force India’s Perez overtook Hartley’s on the formation lap after the Toro Rosso driver was slow away off the grid and did not hand the place back, while Hartley failed to follow the procedure that states drivers must start from the pitlane if they do not regain position before the first Safety Car line. 

Both Perez and Hartley were summoned before the stewards for their respective discrepancies, with the stewards opting to add 30s to both drivers’ finishing times after reviewing video evidence. Perez had finished 12th ahead of a lapped Hartley but the penalties dropped the duo down to 16th and 17th respectively in the results. 

A statement from the stewards read: “Car 11 (Perez) overtook car 28 (Hartley) before turn 1 and then during the remainder of the formation lap made no noticeable effort to allow car 28 to regain his position.

“The driver of car 11 also admitted the driver of car 28 was not unduly delayed when leaving the grid to start the formation lap.

"In this case the stewards decided to not award penalty points as the penalty is sufficient.

“Car 28 was overtaken by car 11 during the formation lap, failed to re-establish his position before the first safety car line and then did not enter the pits as required under Article 38.3."

Prior to the post-race penalty, Hartley had already received a 10 second time penalty following contact with Perez on the opening lap as the pair jostled for position at Turn 4. 

“I think Perez was going around the outside. There was some room, but the door was closing, I had a small lock-up and we touched,” Hartley explained.

“Obviously I’m a bit more in the wrong but it was a racing incident. The penalty was harsh, 10 seconds, but obviously we had contact and I think they like to give a penalty when there’s contact.”

When asked if he had spoken to the Mexican following the incident, Hartley replied: “Yeah, we shock hands and it’s all sorted. I was definitely more in the wrong but it’s the first lap in a F1 car and it was tight. A bit frustrated.”