Monaco GP: Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen avoid post-race penalties after Ferrari protest
Sergio Perez keeps his first Monaco GP win and Max Verstappen takes podium as stewards dismiss Ferrari protests; Ferrari had said that both Red Bull drivers should get five-second penalties for crossing yellow line at pit exit
Monday 30 May 2022 11:57, UK
Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen have both avoided penalties for alleged pit exit infringements at the Monaco GP after race stewards dismissed Ferrari's protests.
The verdict from the FIA confirms Perez's win, while Verstappen keeps his third place ahead of title rival Charles Leclerc.
Ferrari launched separate protests against Perez and Verstappen in Monte Carlo, accusing them of illegally crossing the yellow line when leaving the pits on Lap 23, trying to stay ahead of Carlos Sainz and Leclerc.
Race Control did not launch an investigation during the Monte Carlo epic but afterwards Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto accused both drivers of a "clear rules breach", pointing to the race director's notes.
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The FIA summons then confirmed that both Perez and Verstappen were under investigation and a Red Bull team representative reported to stewards, but Ferrari's protest has now been thrown out.
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On Perez, the FIA said that the Mexican "did not have any part of its front or rear tyres on the left of the yellow line" and concluded that the protest was "unfounded".
Verstappen's alleged breach always looked more contentious and the FIA said there was agreement from both Ferrari and Red Bull that part of his tyre was to the left of the yellow line.
But there was a contradiction on the race director's notes, which said "drivers must keep to the right of the yellow line", and the International Sporting Code, which says "any tyre must not cross the line".
The race director's notes stated that "drivers must keep to the right of the solid yellow line at the pit exit when leaving the pits and stay to the right of this line until it finishes after Turn 1".
In their verdict, the stewards said that the "notes by the race director cannot contradict" the ISC.
"In this case, the car did not 'cross' the line," they said. "To do so it would have needed to have a full wheel to the left of the yellow line.
"Accordingly the driver did not breach the relevant section of the code and this takes precedent over any interpretation of the notes. The protest is therefore dismissed."
What Ferrari and Red Bull said about protest
Binotto said that he wanted a time penalty for the Red Bulls, which would have seen both drivers finish behind the Ferraris and Sainz claim his first F1 victory.
"We made the protest because we believe it was right to seek clarification," said the Ferrari boss. "I think both Red Bulls were on the yellow line at the exit and in the past that has always been penalised with a five-second penalty."
Binotto earlier told Sky Sports F1: "We are disappointed because we believe there was a clear breach of regulations on the two Red Bull going on the yellow line exiting the pit.
"I think it was not close. It was on the line and if you look at the intonation of the sporting code it is saying crossing, but we had a clarification in Turkey 2020 to avoid any discussions and if you look at the race director notes it indicates staying to the right.
"So, being on the line is breaching the race director notes and I think each single team has a duty and a task to follow the race director notes.
"So for us that is something unclear and we are still seeking clarification from the FIA and we will be happy to have as soon as possible our feedback."
Rival counterpart Christian Horner, however, said it was "disappointing" that there was a post-race protest.
"We believe the International Sporting Code is clear," the Red Bull boss told Sky Sports News. "He didn't go over the line, he was always in contact with the line.
"We've seen other precedents set, with other drivers in the past. If it was any more than even a reprimand, I'd be hugely disappointed in that. I really hope that common sense will prevail."
