The NTT IndyCar Series has issued a penalty to the #14 entry of Santino Ferrucci following post-race inspection from the Detroit Grand Prix.
The series found that the driver equivalency weight did not meet the minimum stated in the rulebook, and issued penalties in the form of fines and lost points.
Ferrucci was allowed to keep his second place result, but a $25,000 fine was issued and all driver and entrant points earned during the weekend were forfeited.
Earned points associated with the engine manufacturer, Chevrolet, were also taken away.
The driver equivalency weight is designed to make sure there is no incentive for drivers to cut weight, which could lead to unsafe consequences.
Each driver and driver ballast, which is located directly next to the seat, must total 185 pounds. The total weight on the #14 was 1.8 pounds under that limit.
The reason Ferrucci was allowed to keep his finishing position is because the overall weight of the car was still 10 pounds above the minimum.
IndyCar deemed there was not enough of a performance advantage associated with the mistake and thus allowed the official results order to be retained.
AJ Foyt Racing acknowledged the penalty quickly and accepted that they made a mistake calculating the ballast for the race.
The team reiterated that there was no intention to circumvent the rules, and expressed gratitude that the series is committed to fair competition.
Ferrucci praised his team following his career-best second place finish on Sunday, and will likely have breathed a sigh of relief to see that his result will stand.
The 27-year-old falls from 10th to 14th in the overall points standings on account of the penalty, but the #14 entry is still well within the Leader’s Circle positions.
Discussion about this post