Russell and Tsunoda received reprimand after sprint qualifying at Spa
George Russell and Yuki Tsunoda have received a reprimand for "having driven unnecessarily slowly" during the sprint qualifying session at the Belgian Grand Prix.
Mercedes driver George Russell was investigated for driving unnecessarily slowly in the sprint qualifying session, and the stewards elected to hand out a reprimand to the four-time Grand Prix winner.
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 63 (George Russell), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
"The driver of Car 63 stated that he misjudged the distance from the cars in front and thought that they would allow a bigger gap back to him in the final sector, and accordingly he reduced speed to gain a gap which resulted in him exceeding the maximum time.
"Consistent with previous incidents of a similar nature, a Reprimand is imposed on the driver.
"Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits," read the stewards' statement.
Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda was also called into the stewards' room after the sprint qualifying session, and the Japanese driver was handed a reprimand for having driver "unnecessarily slowly."
"The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 22 (Yuki Tsunoda), team representative and reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video, timing, telemetry, team radio and in-car video evidence.
"The driver of Car 22 misjudged the delta time, stating that he thought he would “make the time” but in this case he did not. Consistent with previous incidents of a similar nature, a penalty of Reprimand is imposed.
"Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the Stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules, within the applicable time limits," read the stewards' statement.
