Perez receives warning for calling Abu Dhabi stewards a joke

Perez was given the penalty after he was deemed at fault in an incident on track when trying to overtake McLaren's Lando Norris.

The sanction demoted the Mexican from second at the chequered flag, in a one-two with teammate Max Verstappen, to fourth.

"The stewards are a joke, man," Perez said on his slowing down lap. "I cannot believe it. They have been very bad this year but this is a joke. That was really a joke."

The Mexican, speaking to Sky Sports F1, went further, he said: "I think the stewards were very poor today in my opinion. We've seen a lot worse, we touched tyre to tyre, Lando cut the corner and I still had the penalty."

Stewards summoned the driver to a post-race hearing and handed him a warning.

"The stewards explained to the driver that they had no issue with someone disagreeing with their decisions, however, comments that amount to personal insults are a breach of the International Sporting Code," they said in a statement.

They noted Perez had made "a genuine and sincere apology" to each of them, explaining he made the comments in the heat of the moment and had not considered them being broadcast to a wider audience.

"The Stewards also note that the driver is not known for making such comments and has always been extremely respectful in stewards hearings," they added.

"The driver, team manager and the stewards had a constructive discussion about the use and broadcast of team radio messages.

"The incident itself was also reviewed in detail with the driver and although he still disagreed with the decision he stated he could understand the stewards’ perspective of the incident." (

Reporting by Alan Baldwin, Additional reporting by Grand Prix247

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