Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Red Bull Ring, 2021

Stewards investigating 11 drivers after end of Austrian GP

2021 Austrian Grand Prix

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The stewards have summoned 11 drivers for different incidents during the Austrian Grand Prix, putting the final classification of the race in doubt.

The majority of drivers are under investigation for failing to slow sufficiently for double waved yellow flags. The warning was triggered by a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen at turn five on the final lap of the race.

Vettel said the collision between the two “must have been a misunderstanding” and “there was no intention from either side.”

The pair are under investigation over that collision. The stewards are also considering whether eight drivers failed to slow sufficiently as they passed the crash scene.

Among those under investigation are the driver who scored points for fifth to ninth place – Carlos Sainz Jnr, Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo, Charles Leclerc and Pierre Gasly. Antonio Giovinazzi, Nicholas Latifi and Nikita Mazepin, who finished outside the top 10, are also under investigation.

An 11th driver, George Russell is being investigated for “alleged moving under braking” at turn four. Raikkonen has also been summoned to the stewards over the same incident.

Sergio Perez, Red Bull, Red Bull Ring, 2021
Gallery: 2021 Austrian Grand Prix in pictures
The stewards have already issued seven penalties. In addition to the three shared between Sergio Perez and Lando Norris, four other were handed down during the race.

Yuki Tsunoda and Antonio Giovinazzi collected five-second penalties during the race. The AlphaTauri driver was penalised for crossing the white line at the pit lane entrance, while the Alfa Romeo racer was found to have overtaken cars on his way into the pits during the Safety Car period.

Lance Stroll was another driver to receive a five-second time penalty, for speeding in the pits.

Update: Mazepin and Latifi given 30s penalties, Raikkonen 20s, others cleared

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2021 Austrian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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32 comments on “Stewards investigating 11 drivers after end of Austrian GP”

  1. Lol if they all get penalised they’ll end up in the same places

    1. Ahah, would be fun!

  2. I’m glad to see the rules being applied in F1 for once.
    Long may it continue (although, I doubt it will).

    1. Spanners is that you?

  3. Ten drivers overall, eight for double yellows, Kimi for his incident with Seb, and Russell for moving under braking.
    Anyway, what a mess. Not only this race but the weekend overall. Even if all eight + Russell and Kimi get additional time penalties, the finishing positions won’t change.

  4. More penalties than Euro 2020

  5. The idea of these penalties is getting silly and out of hand and needs reigning in. I think I got one for shouting at the tv.
    Am not saying bad driving should go unpunished, but was there really much bad driving today????

  6. FIA made this mess by itself by laughable attitude towards rule breaking.
    The most fitting end to this mess would be – all 11 guilty drivers are arranged in one long line and Mr. Michael Massi waves a “black and white” flag before all of them.

    1. Ahah, also a fun one!

  7. Dangggg stewards will be having some overtime pay for this weekend loool

    1. @krichelle Alas, it’s a voluntary role…

  8. But they forget about the penalties they should have issued on Saturday in Q2. 10 drivers slowing down in the specific track section the race director banned.

    Eventually, this slowed Vettel (who was overtaken by the same cheaters than slowed down afterwards) to a stop, and he was the scapegoat of the mess.

    Oh man, one of the finest jobs from the FIA.

    1. Indeed, looks a bit like compensation behavior

  9. Well yesterday taught us that if they all did it, then no one can be penalised.

  10. If Tsunoda wasn’t penalised for Baku then Masi has no right to penalise of these 8 drivers.

    1. RandomMallard (@)
      4th July 2021, 18:07

      HOW MANY TIMES? Masi is not a steward, he doesn’t dish out the penalties.

  11. The penalties today were ridiculous. We want to see hard racing, and the only penalty during the race that should’ve been applied was Perez’s first one on Leclerc. Tsunoda, maybe, but he was barely over, but for track limits, even a millimeter is too far (when Masi wants it to be anyway) so perhaps that was fair too.

    Honestly, they should’ve policed yesterday more and allowed them to race today. If they were speeding during double yellows, then sure that’s a fair penalty. But, in all honesty, Masi needs to be replaced with everything he’s pulled this year so far (and prior) which has culminated in this. Replace him and get people that can actually do their job properly like Whiting was able to beforehand.

    Whiting mightn’t have been perfect, but at least he was competent…

  12. Who was the “driver steward” this weekend?

    1. Derek Warwick

    2. Derek Warwick, but we shouldn’t blame him. It’s very likely he got overruled by the other stewards on many decisions. That’s one of the reasons Alex Wurz will “never ever act as driver steward again” (his own words today on TV).

  13. Why was there even double waved yellows for this incident

    They mean slow down & be prepared to stop… stop for what? Both cars were off the track and in the gravel before you could blink

    Total wrong use of the flag system caused this. Massi needs to go, he couldn’t direct a school crossing let alone an F1 race

  14. As I said yesterday, this is Masi’s answer to be critiziced. And I still believe it is an attemp to show the teams “he’s the boss”.

  15. Guessing raikkonen realised today vettel comprehensively beat him at ferrari and wasn’t happy with that!

  16. Great work by the stewards. That’s how it should be done. Stamp out all the dirty driving and be consistent.

    1. I guess not even the stewards agree with you

  17. When you think the stewarding can’t go worse.. Laughable if it wasn’t so sad

  18. I wonder how much of this is from the teams complaining about any little thing to get their rivals to loose positions. Are lawyers included in the cost cap ? LoL

  19. Coventry Climax
    5th July 2021, 2:02

    Pathetic

  20. Jennifer starkey
    5th July 2021, 7:37

    They all know the rules or they would not be sitting in the car in the first place, the stewards need to inforce the rule’s to keep everyone safe.

  21. If every driver takes 5 seconds penalty, nothing changes.

  22. Lawrence Myers
    5th July 2021, 23:36

    Whoever the other stewards were along with Derek, they need to be retrained or simply replaced. The non stop 5 second penalties for racing need to stop.

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