The stewards have delivered their verdicts after both Haas drivers and Aston Martin's Lance Stroll were investigated for separate incidents in qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix. Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher found themselves under investigation for allegedly driving unnecessarily slowly during qualifying, and each was requested to report to the stewards on Sunday evening. Meanwhile, Stroll and Lando Norris were also summoned to the stewards for an alleged unsafe release of Stroll's car by the Aston Martin team, with the Canadian being released into the path of Norris in the pit lane.
Haas duo receive warning
The Haas drivers were both issued with a warning following their offence, with reference made to Point 4 in the Race Director's Event Notes. This reads: "In order to ensure that cars are not driven unnecessarily slowly during all laps of the qualifying sessions or during reconnaissance laps when the pit exit is opened for the race, drivers must stay below the maximum time set by the FIA between the Safety Car lines shown on the pit lane map." In the documents explaining the verdict on Magnussen and Schumacher, it was noted that there had been "55 violations by 18 drivers" of this rule during qualifying. Each of these were investigated, and the stewards found that "the majority of cases were a result of drivers following another driver who was also on an out lap and as each driver attempted to create a gap to the preceding driver, they went successively slower until a 'train' of drivers exceeded the minimum time". It was further stated that, on five of these occasions, the Haas drivers were the first out of the pits due to their garage location, and so were able to control their speed without having to be concerned by cars in front of them. The stewards acknowledged that this point raised in the Race Director's Event Notes is "relatively new", having been introduced this season, and as such opted to issue a warning rather than a penalty. However, it was noted that "further violations may incur increased penalties not only for these drivers but for any competitor committing a similar breach in the future".
Aston Martin receive fine
Elsewhere, Aston Martin were handed a €5,000 fine for an unsafe release of Stroll's car. The stewards heard from Stroll and Norris, as well as representatives from both of their teams. Video evidence was examined, and Stroll's team manager acknowledged that "in error, the team released car 18 into the path of car 4 creating an unsafe release". Stroll will start the race from down in P18 after a disappointing qualifying for the British outfit, with both cars exiting in Q1. It was a better day for Haas. Magnussen and Schumacher both made it into Q3 for the first time this season, as well as it being the debut Q3 of Schumacher's F1 career. Magnussen will line up in eighth, whilst Schumacher is just behind in P10.
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