FIA announce decision after rookies summoned to stewards in China

Jack Doohan has been given a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points on his Super Licence after the stewards ruled he was ‘predominantly to blame’ for his last-lap collision with Gabriel Bortoleto in the Chinese GP Sprint.

The elbows were out as four of Formula 1’s six rookies raced for pride, not points, at the back of the field in Saturday’s 19-lap Sprint.

Jack Doohan and Gabriel Bortoleto clashed in the Sprint

But while Liam Lawson’s contact with Doohan saw the stewards rule no further investigation was necessary, Doohan’s late-lap antics earned the Alpine driver a penalty.

Doohan and Bortoleto were summoned to the stewards for the “alleged breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 d) of the International Sporting Code – Turn 14 incident between Cars 7 and 5.”

Fighting to escape the position as the last rookie in the result, Doohan made a late lunge on Bortoleto at the Turn 14 hairpin on lap 19.

The important numbers after the Chinese GP Sprint

👉 2025 Chinese Grand Prix – Sprint race F1 results (Shanghai)

👉 The updated Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship standings

Crashing into the side of Bortoleto’s Sauber, the Brazilian went spinning while Doohan suffered front wing damage.

“This guy dove and hit me,” Bortoleto told Sauber.

He finished the race in 18th place while Doohan was last, P20.

Ruling that the Aussie was ‘predominantly to blame’ for the crash, the stewards not only imposed a 10-second time penalty but also gave Doohan his first two penalty points on his Super Licence.

The ruling read: “DOO attempted to overtake BOR on the inside of turn 14 but locked up at the apex of the corner and collided with BOR. DOO suggested that he was in control of the overtake but the presence of the two Haas cars and the line they took compromised his overtake attempt.

“First, as the car attempting to overtake, the responsibility was on DOO to ensure that it was done in a safe manner and in line with the regulations and the guidelines.

“Secondly, applying the Driving Standards Guidelines, DOO did not have the right to the corner at the apex and should have backed off – here, because of the speed at which he approached the corner for the overtake and the resulting lockup and understeer, a collision was caused, for which DOO was predominantly to blame.

“We therefore imposed the standard 10 second penalty with two penalty points.”

Meanwhile, the stewards have explained why they decided not to take further action after Lawson clattered into Doohan at the same corner earlier in the race.

“Car 30 (LAW) overtook Car 7 (DOO) at Turn 14 and there was a minor collision at the exit,” read the statement.

“We applied the Driving Standards Guidelines as a guide to determine who had the right to the corner. Applying those guidelines, it is clear that LAW was well ahead of DOO at the apex of the corner and was entitled to use the full track at the exit.

“DOO should therefore have given LAW sufficient room to overtake and his failure to do so resulted in a minor collision. As the resulting collision was minor, we took no further action.

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