Daniil Kvyat has been handed a grid drop and one penalty point on his license after Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying.
The stewards found that Kvyat blocked Williams racer Lance Stroll during Q1, and decided to award him a three-place grid penalty.
Kvyat said over team radio his team warned him of Stroll’s approach too late, and despite going onto the grass in avoidance it was too late.
The incident took place around Turn 11, with Stroll on a hot lap. He was eliminated in Q1, and Kvyat finished Q2 in the drop zone in P13. An FIA statement said:
“The stewards determined that Kvyat was on an exceptionally slow lap having spun earlier and damaged his tyres. The stewards acknowledged that he was warned by the team very late of the approach of Stroll who was on a fast lap.
“Further, Kvyat pulled as far to the right as he could as soon as he saw Stroll. However, the stewards considered that these were not mitigating factors.
“Kvyat was driving exceptionally slowly and taking the racing line at the end of Q1 when other drivers were attempting to set fast laps and this led to the unnecessary impeding.”
The grid drop is probably the least of Kvyat’s worries, because the penalty point now takes his tally up to 10.
If a driver gets 12 points on their license over a 12-month period, they have to serve a one-race F1 ban. Ouch.
Kvyat’s edging closer to the one-race ban, and is now just two penalty points away from it. So, he better be on his best behaviour from now on.
