Gabriel Bortoleto was given a 10-second penalty after overtaking under a yellow flag during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Saturday in Baku, according to an official Formula 1 statement.
The Audi driver, who had finished 13th, was penalized following an incident between turns 6 and 7 on the first lap, just after the restart following the safety car deployment.
Race officials noted that waved yellow flags and “SC” boards were displayed due to a multi-car accident at turn 1. Although Bortoleto initially slowed down, he did not see any electronic indication or receive a Safety Car signal on his steering wheel, and his team had informed him that the safety car was not deployed.
He therefore overtook Sergio Perez before the safety car appeared. The stewards determined that this overtake did not occur under safety car conditions but under yellow flag conditions, which is prohibited. The 10-second penalty cost him two positions, dropping him to last classified driver in 15th place.
The official document emphasized that “the waved yellow flag is an instruction to be obeyed, regardless of any other signal,” and that a driver cannot disregard this flag based on personal judgment.
