Mercedes has escaped with a fine regarding a tyre pressure infringement involving both cars on the starting grid during the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
When Lance Stroll beached his Aston Martin car in the gravel trap at Turn 4 on the first of three formation laps at Interlagos, the race start was abandoned.
As the drivers waited on the grid for the race start procedure to get going again, the Mercedes crew opted to make changes to Russell and Hamilton’s W15s.
“On the grid and when the race start was aborted, between the 10 minutes and the 5 minutes signal, on car numbers 63 and 44,
the tyre pressures were adjusted (pressure released) with wheels already fitted to the car,” read FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer’s report.
“As this is in contradiction to TD003 N, items 2. c) and 2. h) i., I am referring this matter to the stewards for their consideration.”
Upon reviewing the evidence, the stewards elected not to penalise either George Russell, who came home in fourth place, or Lewis Hamilton, who ended 10th.
Instead, the stewards decided to impose a €5000 fine on Mercedes for each incident as it acknowledged “the gate to access the grid was not immediately opened”.
“The FIA accepted that given this short notice it was extremely difficult if not impossible for the teams to follow the procedure prescribed in the technical directive,” it added.
Meanwhile, the FIA also recognised that the tyre pressures remained “within the allowed parameters” despite Mercedes having made tweaks to them on the grid.
“Given the unusual circumstances surrounding the compressed time table, aborted start, the grid access logistics and given the stipulation from the Technical Delegate that the tyre pressure were within the correct parameters, the Stewards determine that a breach of procedure is appropriate in this case,” the stewards’ verdict continued.
“Normally a breach of this nature, within a competitive session would carry a sporting penalty but it is not appropriate in this case.
“However, this decision should not be considered as a precedent for any similar breach in the future as the circumstances are considered unique”.
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