Russian GP stewards sanction Norris and Stroll

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The Russian Grand Prix stewards handed a reprimand to Lando Norris and a 10-second time penalty to Lance Stroll for the two drivers' respective actions in Sunday's race.

The McLaren driver was summoned to the stewards' office after the race following his messy entry into the pitlane in the damp conditions that prevailed in the final part of the race.

Norris was forced to undergo a heartbreaking pitstop for intermediate tyres as track conditions worsened in the final laps of the race, a set of circumstances that potentially deprived the Briton of a maiden F1 win.

But the McLaren ran wide as he entered the pitlane, running across the painted area and then cutting back into the pitlane.

Read also - Seidl: McLaren team equally to blame for Norris tyre call

However, the stewards opted to give Norris a simple reprimand for the inadvertent mishap. The sanction, which was also the McLaren driver's first reprimand of the season, does not impact Norris' P7 classification in the race.

Aston Martin's Stroll wasn't left off the hook by the stewards for colliding with AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly late in the Russian Grand Prix.

Stroll had slid off the track in the tricky conditions and rejoined in the path of the AlphaTauri, making contact with Gasly's car.

The stewards deemed that the Canadian was "wholly to blame for the incident" and handed a 10-second penalty and two penalty points to the Aston charger.

Although the ruling has no bearing on Stroll's P11 finishing position, the 22-year-old's penalty count on his licence now stands at 8 points, or foru points shy from a race ban.

However, in accordance with F1's 12-month rolling schedule regarding penalty points, Stroll will lose two points on his licence on October 25th, the day after the US Grand Prix, a deduction that should bring his tally down to six points barring any infractions in the upcoming race in Turkey.

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Michael Delaney