Sergio Perez has been handed a formal warning by Brazilian Grand Prix stewards after throwing an item out of his cockpit.

Perez was seen lobbing a small item out of his car during the final practice session on Saturday, with his Cadillac team later radioing him to ask what he had jettisoned.

The Mexican driver admitted that he wasn't quite sure, adding: "It was, uh... something came off. I think the radio, where you put the radio cables, a little box."

In the event, he was more or less correct, with the FIA confirmation of his warning calling the small piece of plastic 'a cable organiser that typically attaches to the seat belt'.

Perez told 'throwing materials onto the track during a live session is not appropriate'

The stewards acknowledged Perez's concern that the piece of plastic, which had become dislodged naturally, could have caused a safety issue if it found a new home in his car, but added 'throwing materials onto the track during a live session is not appropriate for obvious reasons'.

The decision in full read: "The Stewards heard from the team representative and reviewed in-car video evidence and determined that the driver of Car 11 threw a small plastic piece out of the car.

"The plastic piece was a cable organiser that typically attaches to the seat belt. It dislodged during the session and the driver threw it out as he was concerned that it would lodge itself somewhere else in the car and create a safety issue.

"While we appreciated the fact that it was a small, light piece of plastic that was unlikely to cause any damage to another car or injure another driver, throwing materials onto the track during a live session is not appropriate for obvious reasons.

"We therefore issue a formal warning to the competitor to avoid similar situations from arising in the future."