Rally Italia Sardegna event stewards have allowed Sébastien Ogier to keep his points from his second place finish, having investigated a time card error which contravened the rules.
Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia were reported to event stewards when they left the finish of the penultimate speed test without collecting their card.
It was later delivered to them by rival Ott Tänak, but that breached the rules which prohibit crew members receiving items from a third party.
The matter was referred to the stewards and later investigated. However it was decided that the 22 points Ogier and Ingrassia gained from the rally and the 18 earned by their M-Sport Ford team should be removed, but suspended until the end of the season, meaning they will keep the points unless they repeat the offence.
They were fined €10,000.
The decision means Ogier remains 27 points adrift of rally winner Thierry Neuville with six rounds remaining.
