Nico Rosberg has been handed a ten-second time penalty after stewards at Silverstone decided that he had received information over the radio from his team that were against the regulations of the sport.
The German had initially finished second on the road behind Mercedes AMG PETRONAS team-mate Lewis Hamilton, but the penalty awarded to Rosberg drops him to third behind Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen, and reduces his lead in the championship down to just one point from his team-mate.
Rosberg had received instructions from his engineers on the pit wall about his gearbox that went above what he was allowed to have, and as such after a lengthy discussion inside the stewards room, it was determined that a ten-second time penalty was the correct punishment.
“Having considered the matter extensively the Stewards determined that the team gave some instructions to the driver that are specifically permitted under Technical Directive 014-16,” said the stewards statement.
“However, the Stewards determined that the team then went further and gave instructions to the driver that were not permitted under the Technical Directive, and were in Breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided.”
