Stake rookie driver Robert Shwartzman has been handed a five-place grid penalty by Mexican Grand Prix stewards - despite not being a full-time F1 driver. Shwartzman was in for Zhou Guanyu at Sauber for the mandatory FP1 session and fell foul of the yellow flags deployed for the incident involving Ollie Bearman and Alex Albon that triggered an eventual red flag. Shwartzman was found to have overtaken Yuki Tsunoda under double-waved yellow flags whilst passing by the incident - when drivers should slow down and be prepared to stop. The usual sanction for this is a five-place grid drop, which the stewards applied despite Shwartzman never having made his grand prix debut - although he could be called upon if Zhou ro Valtteri Bottas are forced to miss a race in the remainder of the season. Reflecting the unusualness of the situation, the stewards acknowledged this, but to "remain consistent" handed Shwartzman the five-place drop. Elsewhere, the stewards opted to take no further action against either Bearman or Albon for their incident. It was found that Bearman was on a cool down up, and was informed of Albon's arrival and pulled well off the racing line. As Albon lifted off in the presence of Bearman, the loads the car was under caused it to oversteer, pitching Albon into Bearman. Both drivers agreed Bearman was not "unreasonable" in his positioning, but it was just "unfortunate" and if Bearman had been further down the track, the incident wouldn't have happened. All parties agreed it was a racing incident.
Most read
