The Formula 1 stewards will allow Sergio Perez to race in Sunday's Australian Grand Prix despite falling foul of the sport's '107% rule'.
The Mexican was considered to be one of the main contenders for pole position in Melbourne. But his qualifying session lasted for only a few minutes as he lost control of his Red Bull just seconds into his first attempt at a flying lap.
Perez beached his car in the gravel, causing the session to be red-flagged. As a result, he was unable to get going again and will start the race last on the grid on Sunday.
That has now been confirmed by the Stewards in Melbourne. Red Bull needed to apply for Perez to be allowed to take part in the race after not setting a time within 107% of quickest lap from the first part of the session.
That permission has been granted, as confirmed by an official document released by the FIA. It reads: "The Stewards have received a request from Oracle Red Bull Racing to allow car 11 to start the race despite failing to set a qualifying time within 107% of the fastest time set in Q1.
"In accordance with Article 39.3 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations, the Stewards grant permission for car 11, Sergio Perez, to start the race, as the driver has set satisfactory times in practice at this event."
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Sky Sports)Perez came into the weekend just one point behind team-mate Max Verstappen in the standings and riding high after his win in Jeddah. But difficulties in both practice and qualifying have brought him back down to earth, while the Dutchman is on pole in Melbourne.
The Mexican was clearly not in a good mood as he faced the TV cameras after qualifying and refused to disclose what the problem is on his car. Asked what his goal is for the race, he simply replied: "Minimising the damage. It will be really important to minimise it."
He added: "It was really bad. It was a terrible day. Already in FP3 we had this issue and we thought we'd fixed it but, obviously, we didn't. I really hope that come tomorrow, race day, we are able to fix it because otherwise it will be really difficult to race like this.
"I don't want to go too much into detail because I don't think it's really worth it for us. We have to work together as a team to make sure that we overcome this problem and fix it for tomorrow."
