Sergio Perez still has the five-place grid penalty imposed after the crash with Felipe Massa in Canada, despite the FIA holding a new hearing today.
Perez was given a chance to present his case, which was backed up by telemetry from Force India. However the Austrian GP stewards decided to confirm the decision made by their Canadian counterparts.
The stewards revealed that Perez contended that "in defending his position he exercised his right... to use the whole track." However the stewards said that "the defense of his position occurred in the braking area," adding that the rules state that "any right to defend by using the whole track must occur prior to the braking area," and that thus Perez "was not entitled to defend his position in the manner that he did."
Perez insisted that despite his disappointment, he wanted to move on
"We went to show all the evidence that we had, the data, the line, the pictures that we couldn't show in Montreal," he said. "So for that reason we felt very confident that we had the proof. The stewards looked to be quite sensible and agreed to an extent in everything I said there, but in the end the situation didn't change at all.
"It's a bit disappointing, but it's time to move on. For tomorrow it will be a big pain to be five places back at a track which is so small and where it's so difficult to overtake."
