Perez Anticipates Penalty for Hamilton After Qualifying Incident at Dutch GP

Sergio Perez anticipates that the 'rigorous' race officials will impose a penalty on Lewis Hamilton due to a regrettable event that took place during the first qualifying session at Zandvoort.

Sergio Perez is under the impression that Lewis Hamilton will face sanctions from F1's officials for an event that occurred during the qualifying round of the Dutch Grand Prix.

The driver from Red Bull accused Hamilton of obstructing his path at Turn 9 in the first qualifying round at Zandvoort, labeling the seven-time world champion as an “idiot” through the team radio.

Hamilton is under scrutiny for the incident and risks a grid penalty if found to have obstructed Perez. The Mercedes competitor was unexpectedly eliminated in Q2, securing only the 12th quickest time.

Perez characterized the event as "regrettable" and merely a case of "bad timing," yet he anticipates that Hamilton will likely face a penalty.

"Perez stated that despite his efforts to avoid the situation, they unfortunately found themselves in an unfavorable position at an inopportune moment."

This year, the officials have enforced the rules more rigorously, and I've received penalties for much less severe infractions. Therefore, I anticipate that he will, regrettably, be penalized.

"He probably did everything within his power [to avoid it], and it might be fair to say [more leeway] should be allowed in such situations, yet things stand as they are.”

Perez secured the fifth spot in the qualifiers but had to deploy a second set of new soft tires to ensure his advancement into Q2. He believes this move negatively impacted his starting place for the grand prix on Sunday.

"Perez mentioned, “On my initial try in Q2, I really should have completed another lap. It was simply bad luck, as I believe our qualifying results might have appeared somewhat better if we had two sets to work with.”

He elaborated, saying, "I believe there's always some change in the track's condition, plus using two different sets of tires. It likely makes a difference of a few tenths of a second. Of course, it's difficult to be certain."

"Clearly, when you only get one attempt, you aim not to spoil it. The lap was not very smooth, in contrast to when you have two chances, allowing you to be much more aggressive on the initial lap."

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