Stewards at the Miami Grand Prix gave one Formula 1 star a telling off after he drove the wrong way around the circuit at this weekend's event.
It happened during practice on Friday, when Nyck de Vries was getting to grips with a circuit upon which he has never raced before. And the Dutchman was pushing a little too hard when he lost control and his AlphaTauri was sent into a spin at Turn 12.
He did not hit a wall or barrier and his engine did not cut out so he was able to get moving again quickly. But De Vries decided there wasn't enough room to turn his car around at that part of the track.
So he drove backwards along the track to find a better place to spin his car back around into the right direction. Unsurprisingly, the stewards took a dim view of his decision to drive into oncoming traffic.
As De Vries used the run off area to swing his car back around, the stewards noted the incident and later looked into it. An investigation did not lead to a penalty for the AlphaTauri driver, but he was given a warning.
"It's a new track for me and grip levels are extremely low, so you get quicker with each lap that you do," explained the Dutchman. "Even though the temperature is quite high, tyre warm-up seems to be a challenge because they need a long time before they perform."
De Vries scored a point on his surprise debut for Williams last year but, since signing on for a full-time seat with AlphaTauri, is yet to trouble the top 10. In his defence, AlphaTauri have arguably the slowest car on the grid in these early stages of the season.
But that has not stopped Yuki Tsunoda from impressing. After finishing 11th in the first two races, he went on to secure back-to-back points results in the next two and will hope to make it a hat-trick in Miami.
The Japanese driver will have his work cut out, though, after a disappointing qualifying session in which he could only go 17th fastest. De Vries starts two places ahead of him after reaching Q2, but setting the slowest time in that part of Saturday's session.
