Leclerc on Perez's punishment: 'He knows he went too far'

Sergio Perez was twice handed a time penalty of five seconds at the Austrian GP and both were because of defensive actions on Charles Leclerc. The Monegasque was far from happy with the Red Bull driver who was rightly penalised, in his opinion, on Sunday.

Perez went too far

Sergio Perez started the race in third place, but fell back after a failed pass on Lando Norris. Norris was given a five-second time penalty for not giving Perez enough space. Ironically Perez did exactly the same to Leclerc on lap 41 and again later on lap 47, giving him two time penalties.

During the race, Leclerc was furious over the on-board radio, but after the race he revealed most of the anger had subsided. "I think he knows he went a bit too far," said the Ferrari driver to Motorsport-Total.com. "I spoke to Checo. He apologised immediately after the race and it's fine. I'm not holding any grudges, so the coast is clear and I'm looking forward."

Penalties justified

Although the anger has now dissipated  for Leclerc, he still feels the penalties are justified. "I was definitely in front at the apex, so he had to leave a gap on the exit. The consequences were greater for me, there was gravel and no tarmac."

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto also agrees with the penalties. "I see it as the stewards saw it. At least in the first incident. Charles was already in the lead and was pushed off the track, so there is no discussion there. The second incident was maybe more of a race situation, but again the stewards decided to penalise him. It's unfortunate for Charles, because these two incidents affected the final result."