Exclusion from qualifying is the standard outcome for the offence, with Alex Albon the last driver to get such a penalty at last year’s Australian GP.
Bottas stopped on track in Q1, reporting no power, having already done enough to progress through to Q2 in 11th place.
He was not able to take part in the second session, and thus without setting a time he was classified 15th after it.
However, following the session the FIA discovered that there was insufficient fuel in the car to fulfil the mandatory requirement of one litre left in the car for testing.
When a car stops on track in qualifying the FIA also calculates how much fuel would have been used to get back to the pits because cars are obliged to return under their own power, which is not the case at the end of races.
The FIA’s technical delegate Jo Bauer noted: “After the qualifying session today it was checked on car number 77, that a 1-litre fuel sample plus the amount of fuel that would have been consumed to drive back to the pits could be taken (technical regulations article 6.5.2). It was possible to take a 0.090 litre sample.
“As the amount of fuel needed to produce a 1-litre sample plus to return the car to the garage was calculated as 2.39 litre, I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
Source: Autosport