Bottas penalised for red flag infraction

Share

Valtteri Bottas has been hit with a three-place grid penalty for Sunday's race in Brazil after overtaking under red flag conditions during Friday practice.

The Williams driver passed Sauber's Felipe Nasr between Turns 5 and 6 during FP2, which had been temporarily halted after Fernando Alonso's McLaren ground to a fiery halt.

The Finn was summoned to see the stewards, who ruled that he had not done enough to avoid the infraction. As a result, Bottas was issued with a three-place grid drop and two penalty points on his licence - his first points of the season.

"The driver of car #77 [Bottas] admitted he overtook car #12 [Nasr] under red flags," a statement from the FIA read.

"The stewards, in applying the penalty, took into consideration that despite the considerable speed difference between the cars, the driver of car #77 could have avoided overtaking under the red flag."

Bottas is not the only driver facing a grid drop in Brazil: Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo will fall ten places after the team opted to use Renault's upgraded engine.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE

Coming Up

Coming Up

News

New Diversity and Inclusion charter agreed by all 10 F1 teams, Formula 1, and the FIA