Horner and Perez unhappy with stewards: "We feel the penalty very harsh"

Red Bull Racing have reacted for the first time to the stewards' decision to relegate Sergio Perez to 13th place. The Austrian team does not entirely agree with the decision but has come to terms with it. The focus now is on gaining ground in the sprint race.

The time Perez gained by briefly leaving the track with all four wheels on is not entirely commensurate with the stewards' hefty penalty. The margin to P11 was more than four-tenths at the time and Perez did not gain that much time by his small excursion.

At the same time, there are rules that must be obeyed. Leaving the track means dropping the lap time. Perez is disappointed: "It is disappointing to lose fourth place, the track limits are very tight here this season, but it is frustrating that the Team weren’t told my lap time had been deleted during Q2.'

However, he doesn't want to dwell on this unpleasant story for too long: "We have the Sprint tomorrow to make up ground and a long race ahead, we have to keep our head down and push hard to make progress and put us in a good position for Sunday.”

Horner not happy either

Team boss Christian Horner is also not entirely happy with the penalty handed out. "We feel the penalty for Checo was very harsh and should have been dealt with before Q3 to enable us to improve subsequent performance. He will do his best tomorrow from P13 and try and put us into a better position for Sunday’s race.”