Sergio Perez keeps Singapore GP victory after stewards visit

Sergio Perez will keep his Singapore Grand Prix victory after visiting the stewards after the race following a Safety Car infringement, with just one five-second time penalty being handed to the Red Bull man.

The Mexican led from the very start of the race after jumping Charles Leclerc off of the line at lights out and controlled things thereafter, with him soaking up the pressure that the Ferrari man looked to apply at points.

Indeed, it was a chaotic race in behind Perez with several drivers going off and suffering spins and incidents, thanks to a wet circuit due to very heavy rain before the race, which delayed the start time.

Such was the chaotic nature of the race, in fact, that we got several Safety Car periods during the Grand Prix, a pretty fundamental part of any race in Singapore, and it was during one of these periods that Perez was alleged to have flouted rules for following behind the Safety Car.

Indeed, he was put under investigation by the stewards for not keeping within 10 car lengths of the Safety Car with him dropping back to give himself some room to try and get heat into his tyres and it’s been decided by the stewards that he will keep his victory ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, with just one five-second time penalty applied to his race time.

Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto told Sky that he felt that there was a case to answer for with the Scuderia believing that a ten-second penalty consisting of two five-second sanctions combined could have been awarded but, with Perez finishing over seven seconds clear of Leclerc at the chequered flag, he had enough in the bag to keep hold of P1.