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Perez not quite sure of win yet; race committee still investigating
- GPblog.com
Sergio Perez crossed the finish line first in the Singapore Grand Prix, but the Mexican is not yet certain of victory. The Red Bull Racing driver is still under investigation by race control for possibly passing the safety car too quickly on the restart.
After Yuki Tsunoda put his AlphaTauri car into the wall, a safety car followed. Perez was very sharp and immediately got on the gas early, but perhaps a little too early. The race leader is allowed to set the pace, but he is not allowed to pass the safety car until a certain point (even if it is in the pit lane). So possibly Perez committed an offence.
How severe will any penalty be?
A time penalty is quite possible and, depending on its level, it would mean Perez might fall back to second place. Should it be a five-second penalty, the 32-year-old driver would be in good shape. Indeed, his lead over the number two was more than five seconds at the finish. If the race organisers decide to award a time penalty of 10 seconds or more, Perez would be out of luck and the victory would go to Charles Leclerc.
In the race, the Ferrari driver from Monaco was instructed by his team to finish within five seconds of Perez and he failed to do so. It is now mainly a case of waiting to see what the race organisers do.