Sergio Perez receives grid penalty for Spanish Grand Prix after safety issue

Sergio Perez has been handed a three-place grid penalty after his retirement from the Canadian Grand Prix on Sunday.

The Red Bull driver, who penned a new two-year deal last week, endured a weekend to forget in Montreal.

Perez failed to progress beyond Q1 in qualifying before spinning off track during Sunday’s wet race, destroying his rear wing.

However, the Mexican opted to drive back to the pits before retiring from the race and the stewards have handed Perez a three-place grid drop for the next race in Spain for driving the remainder of the lap with a “significantly damaged car.”

Red Bull have also been fined £21,146 (€25,000) over the incident, with the team admitting they told Perez to drive back to the pits in order to avoid a safety car, with Max Verstappen leading the race. Verstappen went on to claim his sixth win of the season.

The stewards’ full decision read: "After making contact with the barriers in Turn 6, the driver [Perez] continued on track for the remainder of the lap with a significantly damaged car and thereby lost several carbon fibre parts on the way back to the pits.

"The team confirmed in the hearing that the driver had been advised to bring the car back to the pits as they were trying to avoid a Safety Car situation.

“The Stewards determine that, as well as a financial penalty for the team, a sporting penalty is necessary due to the safety implications of the incident."

Perez has now failed to finish the last two races following his big crash at the Monaco Grand Prix a fortnight ago.

Perez said of his retirement in Canada: "I did a mistake going into turn six, I just touched the wet patch and once you do that it’s really game over, and unfortunately that’s what happened.

"Very tough weekend, but I think there is a long season ahead and we will be back to our form that we had earlier.”

Despite the 34-year-old’s inconsistent run of results, he signed a deal until 2026 to stay as Verstappen’s team-mate, with Red Bull opting against signing Carlos Sainz.