Sauber have held up their hand over Pascal Wehrlein’s Spanish GP penalty, saying it was a late call by the team that resulted in his error and the loss of P7.

Starting 15th on the grid at the Circuit de Catalunya, Sauber’s decision to put Wehrlein on a one-stop strategy elevated the German inside the top ten.

That, though, was threatened when he was hit with a five-second penalty for entering the pit lane on the wrong side of the bollard.

Sauber say that’s because they called him in late.

“It was an excellent drive,” team boss Monisha Kaltenborn told Autosport.