Audi F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto has been hit with a 10-second time penalty, following confusion at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The FIA stewards accepted one part of the Brazilian’s argument, regarding an incorrect display of Safety Car boards from the marshals. However, his reasoning for overtaking the Cadillac of Sergio Perez was dismissed by the stewards.
FIA penalises Gabriel Bortoleto in Baku
Bortoleto was informed by his team that the SC boards were displayed alongside yellow flags in error. Amid the uncertainty, he overtook Perez.
An investigation was launched by the FIA stewards.
In what was a rather complex review, it was accepted that the SC boards were shown in error, and that Audi had informed him that it had not been deployed.
However, the stewards stressed that overtaking another car under yellow flags is not acceptable, and imposed a 10-second penalty.
That drops Bortoleto from 13th to 15th in the final Azerbaijan Grand Prix classification.
“The stewards heard from the driver of Car 5 (Gabriel Bortoleto), team representative and reviewed video and in-car video evidence,” the verdict begins.
“The incident occurred between Turns 6 and 7 during the first lap after the restart of the race.
“At the relevant time, marshal posts in this area were displaying physical “SC” boards together with waved yellow flags. However, the stewards established that, at that time, the Safety Car had not in fact been deployed by race control.
“BOR explained that he initially reacted to the SC boards and yellow flags. However, he did not see any corresponding electronic indication and did not receive a Safety Car indication on his steering wheel.
“He was also informed by his team that the Safety Car had not been deployed. BOR therefore became uncertain as to the actual status of the race and, not wishing to lose position unnecessarily, subsequently overtook PER [Sergio Perez].
“The stewards accept that the conflicting information contributed significantly to the situation. In particular, as the Safety Car had not been deployed, BOR cannot be considered to have overtaken another car under Safety Car conditions.
“However, this does not dispose of the separate issue of the waved yellow flags.
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“BOR confirmed that he had seen the yellow flags but explained that, because they were displayed together with the SC boards, he understood them to be part of the same Safety Car indication and therefore considered that they were no longer relevant once he had been informed that the Safety Car had not been deployed.
“The stewards do not accept this interpretation. A waved yellow flag is an instruction in its own right and must be respected irrespective of any accompanying signal. A driver cannot disregard a yellow flag based on his own assessment as to why it has been displayed or whether it should have been displayed.
“The 2026 FIA practice likewise treats yellow flag indications as requiring compliance even where surrounding circumstances are unusual.
“Accordingly, notwithstanding the understandable confusion concerning the SC boards, BOR had seen the waved yellow flags and nevertheless overtook PER while the yellow flag condition remained in effect. The stewards therefore determine that BOR overtook another car under yellow flag conditions.
“The stewards acknowledge that the erroneous SC indications and the conflicting information contributed to the circumstances of the incident. However, these circumstances do not remove the obligation to respect a waved yellow flag and the stewards therefore apply the standard penalty for overtaking under a single yellow flag.”
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Originally published by Planet F1 —
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