Russell, Ocon and Gasly handed two-place grid penalties

Mercedes driver George Russell has been given a two place grid penalty for Sunday's Sao Paulo Grand Prix for an impeding incident that took place in Friday's qualifying session.

Alpine team mates Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were also summoned to see the stewards after qualifying for similar offences, and were likewise handed two-place penalties.

All three were deemed to have held up cars exiting pit lane in Q1, in direct contravention to the race director's latest instructions issued to teams and drivers before the start of the weekend.

New instructions were issued for Brazil after a similar problem occurred in last week's Grand Prix in Mexico. Because of conflicting instructions, all drivers cited on that occasion escaped any sanctions.

New clarifying rules this weekend require drivers to get past the turn 3 apex point of the pit lane before pulling to the left, allowing space for rivals to pass should they need to, but Russell failed to do so.

It means that Russell is the first driver to be found to have broken both the letter and the spirit of the revised regulations, and as a result will be demoted from sixth on the grid to eighth.

• Read also: Verstappen on pole as lightning red flags Q3 in Brazil

As a result of Russell's penalty, Lando Norris will start from sixth, and Carlos Sainz moves up to P7 with Russell lining up alongside the Ferrari in eighth.

"The Stewards heard from the driver of car 63 (George Russell), the team representative and reviewed in-car video evidence," the stewards explained in the official statement issued by the FIA.

"In order to avoid situations like the ones that occurred in Mexico, 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," the statement continued. "Russell was exiting the pits, preparing for an out lap. he 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 Race Director’s Event Notes."

Among the drivers who was held up by Russell was Gasly, who called Russell slowing in the pit exit "f***ing dangerous".

Ironically Gasly also received a two place penalty for driving slowly in the pit exit and not being as far to the left as possible, as was his team mate and compatriot Ocon.

The pair had missed the cut at the end of the second round of qualifying and were due to start from 13th and 12th place respectively. Ocon will now drop to 14th while Gasly will have to start from 15th.

The beneficiaries in this case are Haas' Kevin Magnussen and Williams Alex Albon, who move ahead of the penalised pair in P12 and P13

Third-place qualifier Lance Stroll was also summoned to meet with the stewards over suggestions that he had exceeding the maximum delta time during qualifying by being too slow on a cool-down lap.

However in this case, the stewards decided that no further action was required on the Aston Martin driver's actions.

"The stewards determined that the driver took appropriate actions to not impede other drivers, and in all cases they slowed down significantly to allow other drivers to pass while giving those drivers a clear track.

"In addition, the driver decided to pit at the end of the lap, reducing further their speed to enter the pit lane," the statement explained in this case.

"The stewards therefore determine that the driver concerned did not drive “unnecessarily slowly”, and that evidently the reason they were above the maximum time was due to their appropriate actions."

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter