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Formula 1 title contender Lando Norris is under investigation after a messy aborted start to the Brazilian Grand Prix triggered by Lance Stroll beaching his Aston Martin.
The issue will only be resolved after the grand prix is finished, as the stewards have ruled that it will be fully investigated after the race - creating the possibility of post-race penalties affecting the championship fight.
Stroll, having already crashed in qualifying, spun out of ninth place on the formation lap at the Turn 4 Descida Do Lago right-hander.
He tapped the barrier with his front wing before attempting to recover from the escape road to the circuit. Instead he inadvertently beached his Aston Martin in the gravel.
That prompted the FIA race director to abort the start, with the other 18 cars - Alex Albon's Williams already withdrawn pre-race - waiting on the starting grid.
Polesitter Norris set off from pole, but he did so before he'd received the green light.
The majority of the grid followed him but some drivers - such as F1 points leader Max Verstappen - remained in their grid slots, believing they weren't allowed to go yet.
Sometimes there's an extra formation lap declared in these situations but this was a proper aborted start with the drivers supposed to wait in place until they get the signal to move off the grid.
The race director noted Norris’s actions and that quickly turned into an 'under investigation' by the Brazil GP stewards.
Fellow leading qualifiers George Russell, Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson were then added to the investigation.
Although every driver left the grid, only incidents involving Norris, Russell, Lawson and Tsunoda were noted and then escalated to an investigation.
This is because those four drivers left the grid without authorisation. The rest, The Race understands, were told to follow the train to avoid being a lap down if those cars completed the lap alone.
Esteban Ocon was the first car on the grid not to automatically follow the leaders. He waited until being told by his team, which is understood to have quickly been instructed to tell him to pull away.
Scott Mitchell-Malm's take
"This is, on the surface, a simple rule. It’s pretty black and white.
"But the confusion, I suspect, comes from how you judge those that followed Norris.
"Are those who left the grid immediately all guilty? Are those who waited innocent? Did any teams seek clarification from race control while their driver waited?"
More in-race analysis on The Race Live Hub
A new formation lap and starting procedure for the grand prix was fixed for around 10 minutes after the initial aborted start, at 12:47pm local time.
This is a pivotal race in Norris's title charge with rival Verstappen starting down in 17th (effectively now 15th with Albon's withdrawal and Stroll spinning out). 44 points separated them prior to the grand prix.
