Stroll and Gasly swap positions as the Canadian is penalised  

Once again, it was Lance Stroll who starred for Aston Martin as he finished in the points for a second consecutive race following a difficult start to the season for the team. 

Stroll finished P7 on the road but got smacked with a 5-second penalty for overtaking Gasly off the track and gained a lasting advantage. The Canadian went through the gravel to complete the move. It meant Gasly moved up a spot, with Stroll dropping to P8. 

Read the reason for the penalty below.  

''The Stewards were informed after the race of an alleged breach. Having reviewed the video and heard from the drivers, the Stewards conclude that Car 18 was not able to complete his pass on car 10 at Turn 2/3 without leaving the track completely shortcutting turn 3 and returning on the track ahead of car 10. He then failed to give the position back.  

''In hearing from the drivers, the Stewards accepted that car 18 was ahead of car 10 at the point he left the track, but that he was in that position because of a manoeuvre that he was not able to complete on the track given the wet conditions.’’ 

Raikkonen’s penalty hands old rival Alonso a point 

A superb drive in the Alfa Romeo from 2007 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen turned out to be fruitless following a 30-second post-race penalty. 

The Finn held off the Alpines of Ocon and Alonso in the closing stages of the Grand Prix to finish 9th on the road on a weekend where Alfa struggled for raw speed.4 

However, his spin under Safety Car conditions ahead of the restart would come back to haunt him; he dropped two places to Tsunoda and Hamilton and because he failed to reclaim those spots following radio confusion, he should have got through the pits and only restarted when everyone had gone past. 

Raikkonen was hit with a heavy penalty for failing to do so and ended up classified in P13.  

Read the full reason for the penalty below. 

''On the lap before the re-start following the race suspension, Raikkonen spun at Turn 3.  

''Art 42.6 indicates that the driver may retake his position, so long as he does so prior to the first safety car line (SC1). At first the team instructed him to do so, but then told him to hold his position.  

''Art 42.6 then indicates that should a driver fail to take his position he must enter the pit lane and can only re-join the race once the whole field has passed the pit exit.  

''Art 42.12 indicates that during a rolling start, once the safety car turns its lights out, “No driver may overtake another car on the track until he passes the Line…”  

''In this case, the driver caught up to the cars ahead of him between turn 13 and 14, but the safety car turned its lights out at approximately turn 10. 

''This would appear to be a contradictory instruction and the team instructed the driver to not regain his position, fearing that this would create a safety issue in the wet conditions. They radioed the Race Director, but there was no time for a response between their call and the restart. 

‘’The Stewards consider it to be a further contradiction that when the cars are behind the safety car during a safety car period, they are prohibited from passing, but when they are behind the safety car for a restart, they are permitted to – even though the reasons for a rolling start are that the track conditions don’t permit a standing start.  

‘’However, the rule requiring a car to enter the pit lane if it fails to regain its position is consistent amongst several championships, has been in the FIA Formula One  

‘’The Stewards Sporting Regulations for several years and has been consistently applied. The penalty is a mandatory penalty, and therefore the Stewards consider that they have no alternative than to apply this penalty for reasons of consistency.’’ 

Russell vs Bottas 

The biggest controversy of the race came on lap 32 as Valtteri Bottas and George Russell were involved in a massive shunt.  

Attempting to overtake the Finn for 9th place, Russell’s right-front tyre ended up on the grass and they had a massive collision. Both drivers hit the barrier heavily but managed to walk away unscathed.  

The pair exchanged heated views following the incident but the stewards decided that was a racing incident between the duo.  

Read how they came to the decision below. 

''Car 63 approached car 77 to pass after the front straight a few laps after the restart when DRS had recently been enabled.  

''Car 77 maintained his line throughout the incident along the right-hand side of the dry line, leaving at least a full car’s width to the right at all times. Car 63 approached with a significant speed advantage. He moved to pass on the right.  

''As the cars approached the kink of turn 1, the gap between them and the right-hand side of the track decreased. At no time did either car manoeuvre erratically.  

''The track appeared to be not especially wet through turn 1 but at the point of closest approach to the right-hand side of the track, the right-hand side tyres of Car 63 hit an especially damp patch and the car snap yawed, bearing in mind that the car had low downforce in the rear with the DRS open.  

''The Stewards conclude that the accident was a racing incident considering the conditions and take no further action.’’