Gasly loses Silverstone point for Perez collision

Gasly beat Perez to 10th, securing his third points finish of the season, but only after late-race contact through the Vale left-hander.

The stewards have since reviewed that incident and handed Gasly a five-second penalty - giving Perez the final point and also dropping Gasly to 13th behind Stoffel Vandoorne and Lance Stroll.

The stewards found Gasly’s move “generally reasonable and that he was attempting to make a good racing pass” but said the Frenchman was “wholly or predominantly to blame” for contact after he hit the sausage kerb at the apex of the Vale left-hander.  

Their report added: “This subsequently forced Perez off the track on driver’s left before Turn 17 [Club] and severely compromised his ability to race through turns 17 and 18, and Gasly was thus able to pass Perez. While the collision was light it led directly to the pass.”

Before the decision was announced, Gasly said: “It’s racing, that's what I like about racing, when you have close fights.

“I don't think it was a big deal, we touched a bit but we both stayed on track. For me it was a nice battle, I enjoyed it.”

He said he had not anticipated a penalty and claimed acting on such incidents would “make racing boring”. 

“I don't think we should make a big deal [of it],” said Gasly. “When I went for it, I wasn't expecting to touch him, but just with the tyres, everything, we touched a bit, but honestly it was really small.”