Gutierrez under fire again after Wehrlein incident
Esteban Gutierrez will take a five-place grid penalty coming into qualifying for the Belgian Grand Prix after he was involved in another controversial 'blocking' incident during third practice at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Mexican received criticism from Lewis Hamilton and then Daniel Ricciardo for his conduct when being lapped during the Hungarian Grand Prix and the German Grand Prix respectively, though the Haas driver insisted his actions weren't intentional.
However, Gutierrez ran into yet more controversy in FP3 at Spa after being caught by a full speed Pascal Wehrlein while touring on the racing line at the top of Eau Rouge, forcing the Manor driver to the grass at Radillon as they entered the Kemmel Straight.
The near miss prompted the German to lash out at Gutierrez on the team radio, and the FIA quickly confirmed that the incident was under investigation.
It took a while before the five-place penalty was handed down, along with the addition of three points on Gutierrez's licence, but the Mexican joins Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Marcus Ericsson (all mechanically-related) in taking penalties before qualifying.
WEH (on GUT) : "The ****ing idiot, what is he doing?"
Tempers running high already in #FP3 #BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/KuyxQLcKxR-- Formula 1 (@F1) August 27, 2016
Meanwhile, a similar incident between Kevin Magnussen and Sebastian Vettel was also put under investigation after the Renault slowed ahead of his fast lap, impeding the former champion - who promptly made his feelings known...
"It's free practice, who gives a s**t..."
Potty-mouth Vettel makes his feelings about FP3 and a Renault known in his typically blunt style-- Ollie Barstow (@OllieBarstow) August 27, 2016
On this occasion, however, the stewards decided that there was no case to answer, allowing K-Mag to take up his earned grid slot.
