Lance Stroll has received a 10 second time penalty for failing to obey blue flags at the 2018 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix as well having three penalty points put on his licence.
The penalty came about after Stroll was told by Williams to try and stay unlapped by Sergio Perez and in the Canadian’s attempt to do so he ignored the blue flags requiring him to let the faster car overtake.
Stroll pitted for fresh tyres with four laps of the race remaining when he came out on track in front of the Force India of Perez.
The time penalty has dropped Stroll down from 13th to 14th place, with his team-mate Sergey Sirotkin benefitting from the incident.
The FIA verdict stated: “The driver of car #18 admitted he had seen the blue flags, light panels and the light on his steering wheel.
“He stated his team had told him to attempt to un-lap himself but had not advised him to let car #11 pass until almost one lap of flags and lights had been displayed to him.
“The reason for awarding three penalty points is that the issue of blue flags was specifically raised at the Friday night drivers’ briefing and confirmed in the race director’s notes, in particular the requirement to allow the following car to pass ‘at the first available opportunity’.
“In this instance the driver decided to give priority to the team instruction (to un-lap himself) over the regulations and the race director’s specific instructions (regarding the blue flag procedure).”
