Perez critcal of stewards after losing podium with penalty

Sergio Perez has criticised the stewards after losing a podium at the Italian Grand Prix.

The Mexican had started eighth but made the most of a safety car period caused by team-mate Max Verstappen's crash with Lewis Hamilton to jump to fourth at the halfway stage.

Perez attacked Leclerc into the second chicane but was forced wide and instead of ceding position instantly, the Red Bull simply continued to stretch an advantage and eventually finish third.

The 31-year-old, however, was handed a five-second penalty for gaining a lasting advantage which eventually demoted him to fifth, behind Valtteri Bottas and Leclerc.

Asked by Sky Sports F1 if hindsight dictated Perez should have given the position back to the Ferrari, he said: "Yeah, but we were as a team, hoping to have a bit of a wider view from the stewards.

"The way I see it, if I [had] tried to make the corner we would have had contact, so I basically avoided contact.

"I had nowhere to go, it was my corner so I really had to go and avoid it. In the end, we took the decision to just carry on and we were expecting a bit of that.

"Valtteri was pretty strong, pushing me hard. We were fighting there but unfortunately, we got the podium on track but lost it due to other reasons."

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