03/11/2023
NEWS STORY
George Russell, Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly have each been handed a 2-place grid penalty for Sunday's Grand Prix for impeding in the pitlane.
In order to avoid situations like the ones that occurred in Mexico - where the Mercedes driver was one of three summoned by the stewards - the race director's event notes for this event contained a specific clause (item 14) stipulating that it was permitted to go slow in the pit exit to create a gap before crossing the SC2 line, however, by doing so, a driver must stay as far to the left as possible to allow other drivers to pass on the right side.
However, in separate incidents all three were exiting the pits, preparing for an out lap, and went slow to create a gap for a clear lap, but did not manage to stay completely to the left.
As a result, following car(s) were not able to overtake, as intended by the race director's instructions. This clearly violates the wording and the spirit of item 14 of the event notes.
Consequently all three were handed two-place grid drops for Sunday's race.
Check out our Friday gallery from Interlagos City here.