SILVERSTONE, Great Britain -- Nico Rosberg has been demoted from second to third in the classification for the British Grand Prix after the stewards found Mercedes in breach of team radio restrictions.
A gearbox problem in the closing stages of the race saw Rosberg slow before the team informed him to reset a setting via his steering wheel. This was deemed to be in compliance with the regulations, but he was then told to "avoid seventh gear" for the rest of the race. The stewards deemed the second message to be in breach of Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, which states the driver must drive the car alone and unaided.
The stewards issued a ten-second time penalty, dropping Rosberg behind Max Verstappen, who finished 1.339s behind him on the road. The decision was reached after taking into account a technical directive issued by race director Charlie Whiting, which specifically states that drivers must not be given instructions on how to drive the car.
"Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that the team have some instructions to the driver that were specifically permitted under technical directive 014-16," the stewards' statement said. "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 Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, that the driver must drive the car alone and unaided."
The Mercedes-Rosberg communication went as follows:
Rosberg: "Gearbox problem!"
Mercedes: "Affirm. Chassis default zero one"
Mercedes: "Avoid seventh gear, Nico".
Rosberg: "Well what does that mean? I have to shift through it?"
Mercedes: "Affirm, Nico, Affirm. You have to shift through it."
Rosberg is the first driver to penalised under the team radio restrictions introduced at the start of this year. The loss of one position closes his lead in the standings over teammate Lewis Hamilton to just one point.