Lando Norris has escaped serious punishment for crossing the pit entry during the closing laps of the Russian Grand Prix, whilst Lance Stroll has been handed a time penalty for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly.
Norris had been leading the race until rain arrived, forcing him to pit for wet tyres, but in doing so he failed to take into account the conditions as he entered the pit lane. He locked up and crossed the white line which determines the pit entrance and had to cross it again to re-enter the pits.
Normally that would result in a time penalty, but the stewards took the conditions into account when determining the penalty and decided a reprimand was sufficient.
“The Stewards took into account that on the previous lap the driver of Car 4 had passed through Turn 17 (adjacent to the Pit Entry) at a relatively high speed, without loss of control. During the ensuing lap, the conditions deteriorated rapidly and were varied in different parts of the circuit. The driver slowed considerably on entering the Pit Entry, with his speed approximately half of his normal pit entry speed, but still lost control and slid across the painted area between the Pit Entry and the track,” the stewards explained in their penalty document.
“Although obviously the driver chose to remain out on the track on hard compound slick tyres when others chose to change to Intermediates, and therefore sought to gain an advantage in retaining his race position, we do not consider that the crossing of the painted area was intentional or predictable in the circumstances.”
Norris keeps his seventh place finish and his point for fastest lap.
Stroll meanwhile was handed a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Pierre Gasly. He also received two penalty points, bringing his 12 month total to eight (12 points equals a race ban).
“Although noting the evidence of the driver of Car 18 that the conditions were extremely slippery especially as he was on old hard tyres, the Stewards determined that it was still the responsibility of the driver to ensure that having left the track due to those very same conditions, he drove appropriately taking them into account when he re-joined and turned into the next corner, considering there were two other cars in close proximity.”
Stroll finished 11th and was far enough ahead of team-mate Sebastian Vettel to not drop a position because of the penalty. Gasly finished 13th.
