FIA announce penalty for F1 star after ignoring McLaren warning

Photo: © IMAGO

Azerbaijan Grand Prix

FIA announce penalty for F1 star after ignoring McLaren warning

It comes after an incident in Friday's qualifying session

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Friday 25 September 2026 22:26

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The FIA has announced a grid penalty for Sergio Perez after an incident involving McLaren's Oscar Piastri at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The incident in question occurred during Friday afternoon's qualifying session, with Perez having impeded Piastri while he was on a flying lap.

At the time, Perez was preparing his tyres for his own flying lap through turns 18, 19 and 20, but held up the McLaren star despite having been repeatedly warned on the radio that Piastri was coming up behind him.

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Piastri later told the race stewards that he had to lift because of Perez being in the way, although he did also state that he didn't think he had lost significant lap time as a result of the impeding.

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FIA confirm grid penalty for Sergio Perez

Still, the FIA has confirmed that the race stewards deemed Perez's actions worthy of punishment, with the Cadillac driver having been given a three-place grid penalty for breaching Article B4.1.1 of the FIA F1 Regulations and item 27 of the Race Director’s Competition Notes.

In their verdict, the FIA confirmed the reasoning behind the stewards' decision.

"PER was on a preparation lap between Turns 19 and 20 while PIA was approaching on a flying lap. PER had received two radio warnings that PIA was approaching. At the relevant point PIA was travelling at approximately 300 km/h, while PER was travelling at approximately 248 km/h," the FIA said.

"The Race Director’s specific traffic-management instructions required a driver on a preparation lap in this section of the circuit to remain on the right-hand side. PER was warming his tyres and, rather than maintaining a predictable line on the right-hand side, his tyre-warming manoeuvre placed him in the path of the approaching PIA. PIA consequently had to come off the throttle.

"PER explained that, in the circumstances, he considered that he had no other reasonable option. PIA confirmed that he had to lift because of PER, although he did not consider that he ultimately lost significant lap time as a consequence."

Sergio Perez has been penalised at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The stewards did not deem Perez's impeding as dangerous, but given the fact that he was warned twice that Piastri was coming, they still saw it fit to punish him.

"The Stewards considered whether the incident was dangerous but, having reviewed the evidence and heard both drivers, determined that it was not," the FIA added.

"However, PER had received two warnings of PIA approaching and did not manage his preparation lap in accordance with the specific traffic-management instructions. The fact that PIA was required to lift was sufficient to establish that he had been unnecessarily impeded.

"The Stewards therefore determine that PER unnecessarily impeded PIA and apply the standard penalty for impeding during Qualifying."

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Perez set to start in same place despite FIA grid penalty

Perez had qualified P20 ahead of Lance Stroll and team-mate Valtteri Bottas, and despite his penalty, he will remain there for Sunday's race.

This is due to the fact that Stroll and Fernando Alonso have been hit with 20 and 30-place grid penalties themselves after changes to their respective power units.

In total, four drivers have been hit with grid penalties so far this weekend, with Carlos Sainz having also been punished by the stewards for failing to slow for yellow flags in qualifying.

F1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix 2026 Starting Grid
Pos	Driver	Team
1	George Russell	Mercedes
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari
3	Oscar Piastri	McLaren
4	Isack Hadjar	Red Bull
5	Lando Norris	McLaren
6	Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari
7	Pierre Gasly	Alpine
8	Max Verstappen	Red Bull
9	Franco Colapinto	Alpine
10	Ollie Bearman	Haas
11	Liam Lawson	Racing Bulls
12	Alex Albon	Williams
13	Esteban Ocon	Haas
14	Carlos Sainz	Williams
15	Arvid Lindblad	Racing Bulls
16	Kimi Antonelli	Mercedes
17	Gabriel Bortoleto	Audi
18	Nico Hulkenberg	Audi
19	Valtteri Bottas	Cadillac
20	Sergio Perez	Cadillac
21	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin
22	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin