The United States Grand Prix race stewards have come down hard on Force India’s Sergio Perez following the opening lap crash on Sunday.
Perez crashed into the back of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari and the Sauber of Adrian Sutil.
Raikkonen was able to continue, however the collision ended Sutil’s race and brought out the safety car.
It was a huge disappointment for Sutil and Sauber, who had qualified in tenth place and had hopes of securing their first points of the season. Crucial in the battle for 9th place in the constructors championship against Marussia, who are currently in administration.
The race stewards adjudged Perez’s driving as reckless.
The penalty is two penalty points on his F1 license and a seven-place grid penalty for Brazil.
It would appear this would have been a ten-place grid penalty if Caterham and Marussia had been attending the race.
Following the Grand Prix Sutil told the media: ?Unfortunately, it was a short race. I had a good start and was in a promising position, Sadly Sergio [Perez] crashed into my car, which was completely needless. It is very disappointing that we missed our biggest chance of points because of this move.?
Perez said: ?What happened today is really unfortunate. I made a move on Adrian [Sutil] at turn 15 when he left the door open, so I went up the inside.
?Then Adrian started to close the door and I had to try and brake later than him. By doing so I was unable to avoid contact with Kimi [Raikkonen] which caused me to make contact with Adrian also. I just didn?t expect Kimi to be in that position.?
Perez handed seven-place grid drop
