Alfa Romeo punished by FIA for Valtteri Bottas late arrival to media duty

“The Stewards received a report from the Media Delegate that the driver of Car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) was late for Thursday media commitments at the TV pen,” an FIA statement read.

“The Stewards heard from the driver, team representatives, and team media representative, and determined that the driver was indeed late for the TV pen interviews.

“The team representative explained that they had swapped the commitment schedules of their two drivers and had not informed Bottas where he was supposed to be early enough.

“They also noted that they stayed additional time to ensure all media had the opportunity to talk to him.

“The FIA Media Delegate informed the Stewards that the team and driver are generally diligent in their attendance at these commitments.

“As this appears to be a team error, the Stewards determined that the most appropriate penalty would be a reprimand to the team rather than to the driver, with the warning that further penalties may be considered in case of repetition.”

The reprimand echoes a similar decision made by the FIA to punish Mercedes for Lewis Hamilton’s lateness for the Silverstone press conference.