Antonio Giovinazzi has been handed a three-place grid penalty after the stewards found him guilty of 'unnecessarily impeding' Lance Stroll during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
In the final minutes of Q1, Stroll had turned into Turn 4 on a hot lap to find the Alfa Romeo driver loitering on the racing line whilst on a cool-down lap having already finished his run, despite blue-flags indicating faster cars were incoming.
This had caused Stroll to heavily back out of the throttle which resulted in a lost chance to improve his time and the Canadian was subsequently knocked out of Q1.
Giovinazzi was also handed a penalty point for his indiscretion, the Italian now has four to his name within the current 12 month period.
The stewards' decision read: "The Stewards reviewed video, audio & GPS and telemetry evidence and heard from the driver of car 99 (Antonio Giovinazzi) and the driver of car 18 (Lance Stroll) and the team representatives.
"Notwithstanding the fact that the team incorrectly informed the driver of car 99 that he was in phase with car 18, when in fact car 18 was on a push lap, it is the driver's responsibility to ensure that on an in& lap, he makes all reasonable, endeavours to watch for following cars that are on a push lap and to ensure they are not impeded.
"It was noted that car 99 was shown a blue flashing light halfway between turns 3 and 4. Telemetry and GPS data confirmed that car 18 lost considerable time through the section of track involved.
"The Stewards believe the driver of car 99 could, and should, have moved from the racing line prior to Turn 4. Accordingly, the driver unnecessarily impeded car 18."
Giovinazzi will now start the race from 17th place barring any further penalties handed out on the grid.
