Bottas, Ocon avoid sanctions after US GP qualifying

Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon have both escaped being penalised following a stewards' investigation into their in-laps at the end of Formula 1 qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, having both been deemed to have driven too slowly.

Bottas qualified fourth for Mercedes in Austin, two places clear of Force India driver Ocon, but both were called before the stewards late on Saturday evening for allegedly driving unnecessarily slowly on their in-laps at the end of Q3.

Bottas, Ocon avoid sanctions after US GP qualifying

Valtteri Bottas and Esteban Ocon have both escaped being penalised following a stewards' investigation into their in-laps at the end of Formula 1 qualifying for the United States Grand Prix on Saturday, having both been deemed to have driven too slowly.

Bottas qualified fourth for Mercedes in Austin, two places clear of Force India driver Ocon, but both were called before the stewards late on Saturday evening for allegedly driving unnecessarily slowly on their in-laps at the end of Q3.

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After hearing from both drivers and reviewing the video footage made available, the stewards found that while both had exceeded the delta time set for returning to the pits at the end of the session, neither had driven unnecessarily slowly or caused a hazard.

"Car 77/Car 31 exceeded the specified maximum time between Safety Car Lines on its post-qualifying in-lap," the reports read.

"The Stewards closely examined the drivers' in-lap and found that Car 77/Car 31 did not drive unnecessarily slowly or in a manner to adversely affect any other driver. Noting all the circumstances involved, the stewards take no further action."

As a result, the provisional grid from earlier in the day is now final, with only Sebastian Vettel taking a grid drop, falling from P2 to P5 after his penalty from Friday for not slowing for a red flag.

This means that Kimi Raikkonen, Bottas and Daniel Ricciardo all gain a place on the grid for the start of Sunday's race, with Vettel set to start on row three alongside Ocon.

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