Eight Formula 1 drivers were given time penalties after the Austrian Grand Prix for leaving the track without permission. This emerges from an official document sent by the racing series late on Sunday evening.
Due to the flood of penalties, the race result on Sunday afternoon changes within the top ten, but the podium places are not affected and world champion Max Verstappen remains the winner of the race in Spielberg. Second in the Grand Prix in Styria was Ferrari star Charles Leclerc ahead of Sergio Perez in the second Red Bull.
Sainz and Hamilton lose championship points
The Frenchman Esteban Ocon from the Alpine racing team received the most severe sanction, with four penalties. A total of 30 seconds are added to his race time. In addition, violations by Nyck de Vries (Alpha Tauri/15 seconds), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes/ten), Pierre Gasly (Alpine/ten), Carlos Sainz (Ferrari/ten), Logan Sargeant (Williams/ten), Alexander Albon ( Williams/ten) and Yuki Tsunoda (Alpha Tauri/five). “Leaving the track several times without a valid reason” was the explanation for the penalties. As a result, Sainz and Hamilton lost World Championship points because they slipped backwards.
Protest von Aston Martin
The Aston Martin racing team had previously lodged a protest against the classification of the ninth round of the season. A hearing and an investigation were then carried out. A total of 1,200 cases had to be examined. That hadn’t been done during the race due to the crowd.
A spokesman for the World Motor Sport Federation (FIA) explained that an “unprecedented situation had arisen” and that potentially many rule violations meant that all possible violations could not be investigated during the competition. The track layout and the driving style of the drivers contributed to this. There had been big problems in Spielberg all weekend because the drivers couldn’t keep their cars inside the white line.
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