F1 News: Sergio Perez Revealed To Also Move On Saudi Arabian Start Grid - Why Was It Allowed?

Why Sergio Perez escaped a penalty for his Saudi Arabian GP start.

Onboard footage has surfaced showing Red Bull's Sergio Perez inching forward in his starting position at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Despite this, the Mexican driver faced no inquiry or penalties, sparking discussions on why this was allowed.

Key Takeaways:

• Sergio Perez's slight advance at the start line in Saudi Arabia went unpenalised, similar to McLaren's Lando Norris.
• The FIA's jump-start detection system, which relies on transponder data, did not register Norris' movement as a violation, which could be the same for Perez.
• Historical instances in F1 have shown that minor movements at the start line often do not result in penalties.

Red Bull Press Image

Footage has emerged showing Sergio Perez making a minimal yet noticeable movement from his grid box during the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. This incident, which mirrored a similar occurrence with Lando Norris of McLaren, raised eyebrows with fans on social media, especially since neither driver was subjected to penalties or formal investigations.

Delving into the reasons behind this leniency, it appears that the FIA's approach to such infractions hinges on the precision of their jump-start detection system. This system, equipped with transponders on each vehicle, plays a pivotal role in discerning whether a car has prematurely moved off its grid spot. In the cases of Norris and presumably Perez, their subtle movements did not trip the system's threshold, thereby sparing them from penalties.

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This decision-making process is underpinned by the regulations outlined in Article 48.1 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations. According to the rules, the definitive judgment on jump-starts is based solely on the data from these transponders. The FIA released the following statement for Norris' jump-start:

"The stewards reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and determined that the video appeared to show that car 4 moved before the start signal was given.

"However, the FIA approved and supplied transponder fitted on the car did not indicate a jump start.

"Article 48.1 a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations states clearly that the judgment of whether or not there was a jump start is to be made in accordance with the transponder, which did not show a jump start. In the circumstances, we took no further action."

Although this has sparked debate amongst fans, the movement of Perez's car will have been so minimal that it will not have triggered the transponder fitted to the RB20.

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