Perez hit with pit lane start for US GP

Sergio Perez will start Sunday’s United States Grand Prix from the pit lane after failing to visit the FIA weighbridge during second practice in Austin.

Perez missed a signal to visit the FIA weighbridge at the end of FP2 at the Circuit of The Americas, instead returning to his Racing Point box so the team could complete a practice pit stop.

By switching the tyres on Perez’s Racing Point RP19, Racing Point breached the regulations that state if a driver misses the weighbridge signal, it must be taken at the earliest opportunity without any changes taking place on the car.

Perez was summoned to the see the stewards at 1830 local time in Austin, before being handed a sanction requiring him to start Sunday’s race from the pit lane.

The stewards’ bulletin reads as follows:

"The Stewards reviewed video evidence and heard from the driver of car 11 (Sergio Perez) and the team representative and determined that the driver failed to stop for weighing when required to do so. Instead, he drove on and proceeded to do a pit stop where the car was worked on by lifting the car and all four wheels were changed, in breach of Article 29.1 a).

"The penalty imposed is a mandatory penalty specified under the Formula One Sporting Regulations and the Stewards note that they have no discretion to impose an alternative penalty."

The news comes as a setback for Perez, who entered the weekend on a high after finishing seventh for Racing Point in Mexico last weekend as the leading midfield driver.