FIA announce late flurry of penalties as Miami Grand Prix sprint race result changed

Formula 1's governing body have announced a flurry of late penalties after the sprint race at the Miami Grand Prix this weekend.

After the chequered flag had been waved in the second sprint event of the season, the FIA confirmed three drivers had been handed a punishment, dramatically altering the final race result.

Saturday's sprint at the Miami International Autodrome was manic and highly eventful before the race had even technically begun after Charles Leclerc ruled himself out of the session having crashed due to heavy showers on his way to the grid.

As is usual procedure, only the eight fastest drivers were awarded championship points in the sprint race, but after the late penalty announcement, Alex Albon, Liam Lawson and Ollie Bearman were stripped of those points.

F1 stewards hand out multiple race-altering verdicts in Miami

After the race the stewards had their hands full with four F1 drivers summoned to the stewards, with three of those incidents leading to a time penalty.

The FIA have now confirmed Williams star Albon was handed a five-second penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time set by ECU under the safety car, whilst Racing Bulls driver Lawson was also given a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Fernando Alonso.

The two-time champion spun out and triggered a late safety car in the Miami sprint, unable to cross the finish line and DNF'ing for the third time in a race this season.

The third and final penalty was handed to Haas star Bearman who was slapped with a five-second penalty for an unsafe release from the pit lane which caused Nico Hulkenberg to swerve, avoiding a collision.

After the penalties had been applied to the sprint result in Miami, Albon dropped from an impressive P4 to P11, Lawson from P7 to P13 and Bearman from P8 to P14.

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