How Shwartzman joined Button in unwanted exclusive F1 club

First practice for the Mexico Grand Prix saw five rookies take to the wheel, but the 60-minute session didn’t go smoothly for two drivers.

Oliver Bearman took charge of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez but was involved in a tangle with Alex Albon midway through the session.

Albon was charging in his Williams when coming up on the slower-moving Ferrari in the mid-sector Esses but, when about to pass, lost the rear end of his car on the inside kerb and swiped the side of Bearman’s machine, leaving both stranded with terminal damage.

But with that incident still ongoing, Robert Shwartzman – who was controlling Zhou Guanyu’s Sauber for the session – went past Yuki Tsunoda’s RB as the Japanese slowed down, triggering an investigation.

The stewards found the Ferrari junior guilty of overtaking under yellow flags, explaining: “Following the incident at T9 Shwartzman passed a single waved yellow, and a double yellow flag before overtaking Tsunoda in the yellow zone while traveling at speed.

“The penalty is the usual penalty for passing under a double yellow, and while the Stewards recognize that the driver is not scheduled to start the race, they have applied the consistent penalty.”

Shwartzman joins Button on unusual waiting list

Jenson Button, McLaren MCL32

Photo by: Sutton Images

That consistent penalty is a grid drop of five positions for the next F1 race Shwartzman participates in.

However, with the grid almost completely filled for next season and Shwartzman not in the running for any of the remaining vacant seats, it is unlikely he will be able to take that penalty, unless he is called upon in a reserve capacity, like Bearman has on two occasions this year for both Ferrari and Haas.

It is a situation that mirrors one Jenson Button experienced in 2017 when substituting for Fernando Alonso at the Monaco Grand Prix that year.

With the Spaniard competing in the Indianapolis 500, Button came out of retirement to join Stoffel Vandoorne for the Woking-based outfit but during the race, he pitched Pascal Wehrlein into the barriers at Portier.

The stewards then gave the Briton a three-place grid penalty but, where his situation differs to Shwartzman, the incident report explained that punishment was for the “next race he participates in this season”, whereas the latter’s punishment is less descriptive.