McLaren has become the third team to be fined for an unsafe release in 2018 after an incident involving Stoffel Vandoorne during practice for the Chinese Grand Prix.
Vandoorne was sent back out towards the end of the second session when he noticed one of his wheels was loose, and he safely halted his car on the approach to Turn 6.
Stewards summoned McLaren and issued a fine of €5,000.
“The stewards reviewed the video and audio of the pit stop of Car 2 and heard from the team representative,” read a report.
“The stewards determined that the car was released in an unsafe condition as the wheel was not properly attached to the car when released.
“The driver stopped the car in safe manner as soon as the above became apparent to him.
“Consistent with previous decisions of a similar nature, the stewards decided that the grid place penalty mentioned [in the regulations] would not be applied as the driver took all appropriate actions at the first available opportunity.”
McLaren joins Haas and Ferrari in having been financially sanctioned for sending cars on track in an unsafe condition.
Haas was fined €10,000 in Australia – one for each of the incidents involving Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean – while Ferrari was fined €55,000 for two separate issues in Bahrain.
Kimi Raikkonen was sent on his way during the second practice session with a loose wheel, for which the team was fined €5,000, while a €50,000 penalty was handed out for the race incident that injured a mechanic.
