Nico Rosberg was handed a 10-second time penalty after the British Grand Prix race for breaching radio regulations.

At the end of the race Rosberg was classified at second with Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in 3rd. This time penalty will drop Rosberg to 3rd and promotes Verstappen to 2nd.

The penalty was a result of Rosberg’s race engineer giving him instructions on how to drive the car in the closing stages of the British Grand Prix. Rosberg had a problem with 7th gear and was told by Tony Ross his race engineer to “avoid 7th gear”. Rosberg asked:”What does that mean. Do I have shift through it?”

“Affirm Nico, you need to shift through it,” came the reply from Ross.

That bit of the radio transmission was under scrutiny by the stewards and was found to have breached Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations which states that “The driver must drive the car alone and unaided.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that the team gave some instructions to the driver that were specifically permitted under Technical Directive 014-16,” said a statement by the stewards.

“However, the Stewards determined that the team then went further and gave instructions to the driver that were not permitted under the Technical Directive, and were in Breach of Art. 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided

“10 Second Time Penalty imposed after the race in accordance with Article 38.3 (10 seconds added to elapsed race time)”

The penalty not only drops Rosberg to 3rd in the race classification but it bring team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton to within 1 point in the drivers championship.

Update: Mercedes have lodged an intention to appeal the stewards’ decision. Mercedes have 96 hours from lodging the intention to appeal to decide if they want to go ahead or not. Win or loose it will provide much more clarity on the regulation.

Radio Transcript

Rosberg: “Gearbox problem!”

Tony Ross: “Driver default zero-one. Chassis default zero-one”

Tony Ross: “Avoid 7th gear, Nico. Avoid 7th gear”

Rosberg: “Well what does that mean? I mean I have to shift through it?”

Tony Ross: “Affirm Nico. You need to shift through it. You need to shift through it“