McLaren have been hit with a €10,000 penalty for releasing Stoffel Vandoorne into the path of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel during opening practice for the Austrian Grand Prix on Friday morning.
McLaren admitted blame for the incident which saw Vandoorne released into the path of Vettel, which forced the German to brake hard to avoid contact.
Both McLaren, Vandoorne and Vettel were called to see the stewards to give their side on the incident, with the stewards handing the British team a €10,000 (£8,860) penalty.
Results: Austrian Grand Prix FP1 Results
"The Stewards reviewed the video of the release of car 2 and heard from the driver of car 2 (Stoffel Vandoorne), the driver of car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) and team representatives.
"It was noted that the driver of car 5 had to brake heavily to avoid a collision, locking the front wheels. McLaren admitted that the release was the fault of the team.
"The Stewards accordingly determine that the car was released unsafely in breach of Art. 28.13 a)."
Vettel finished fourth fastest in the session, whilst McLaren look to be struggling once again, with Vandoorne 1.8 seconds adrift in 18th.
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