Shwartzman hit with five-place grid penalty despite not being scheduled to race after FP1 incident in Mexico

Robert Shwartzman has been handed a five-place grid drop for the next race he participates in following his appearance for Kick Sauber in first practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix – despite not being scheduled to compete in an F1 race in the near future.

Shwartzman was one of several rookies to take part in the session, with all Formula 1 teams having to fulfil the mandatory requirement to run a driver with no more than two Grand Prix starts to their name in one FP1 per season.

FP1: Russell leads Sainz and Tsunoda during first practice in Mexico after dramatic Albon/Bearman collision

Sitting in for Zhou Guanyu at Kick Sauber, the 25-year-old recorded 18 laps and finished the hour in 19th place on the timesheets in what was his second outing for the squad this year, having previously got behind the wheel at Zandvoort.

However, it was not an entirely trouble-free session for Shwartzman, with the young driver summoned to the stewards for overtaking under yellow flags following the incident between Alex Albon and Ollie Bearman at Turn 9.

Following a hearing, the stewards deemed Shwartzman to be in breach of Appendix H, Article 2.5.5 b) of the International Sporting Code for passing Yuki Tsunoda in the yellow zone while travelling at speed, leading them to impose a drop of five grid positions for the next race that Shwartzman participates in.

Acknowledging the fact that Shwartzman is not currently racing in F1 – with the Israeli driver instead participating in the World Endurance Championship – a document released by the stewards added of the decision: “The penalty is the usual penalty for passing under a double yellow, and while the Stewards recognize that the driver is not scheduled to start the race, they have applied the consistent penalty.”

HIGHLIGHTS: Watch the FP1 action from Mexico City as Russell tops the times while Albon and Bearman crash

Albon and Bearman, meanwhile, were also summoned to the stewards over their collision but no further action was taken, with the verdict being that this had been a racing incident.