Pérez penalized and forced to start from the pits in Austin

This is the kind of slightly stupid rule that spoils the fun of the game a little. Formula 1. How can you understand that a mistake made on a Friday of free practice could force you to start last from the pit lane two days later? 

However, this is the fate that awaits Sergio Pérez this Sunday after the Racing Point driver missed the weigh-in at the end of Free Practice 2. Instead, the Mexican headed to his pit where his team was waiting for him to perform a pit-stop simulation.

The pink mechanics had just begun to change Pérez's wheels when the Silverstone team realized the error and ordered the used envelopes to be returned at the end of FP2 before attempting to bring the car back to the weighbridge. 

« They don't want you to change the tires because they think you'll fit heavier wheels to match the weight. », Explained Otmar Szafnauer, CEO of Racing Point, before the official verdict.

In their report, the Austin commissioners specified that the sanction was « obligatory and not at the discretion of the stewards ». If this is a way of protecting yourself from criticism of a cardboard rule, we understand them.