Sainz handed three-place grid penalty for F1 Turkish GP for Perez block

McLaren Formula 1 driver Carlos Sainz has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for the Turkish Grand Prix after impeding Sergio Perez during qualifying.

Sainz appeared to block Racing Point’s Perez during the second segment of qualifying at the Turkish Grand Prix. While Perez progressed to Q3 and ultimately went on to qualify behind Max Verstappen and teammate Lance Stroll, Sainz failed to make it through to the final part of qualifying.

Following an investigation, the Istanbul Park stewards ruled McLaren had warned Sainz that Perez was behind him as he exited the pits, but failed to make way for the Racing Point driver fast enough.

The Spaniard, who ultimately took 13th, will subsequently drop to P16 for Sunday’s race. The penalty promotes Charles Leclerc up to 13th, Pierre Gasly to 14th and Kevin Magnussen up to 15th.

“The stewards heard from the driver of Car 11 (Sergio Perez), the driver of car 55 (Carlos Sainz) and both team representatives and have reviewed multiple angles of video evidence and radio calls to car 55,” a stewards statement read.

“Car 55 was exiting the pits as Car 11 passed through turn 1. Car 11 caught up to Car 55 in turn 2/3 and was unnecessarily impeded by Car 55 at that point and through several subsequent turns.

“While extraordinary track conditions clearly impacted the situation, radio communications from the team clearly warned Car 55 that Car 11 was behind him.”

Sainz has also been handed one penalty point on his superlicence, marking his first offence of the current 12-month period.

McLaren teammate Lando Norris and polesitter Lance Stroll are also under investigation for separate yellow flag infringements during qualifying.