Gabriel Bortoleto has been disqualified from the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint Race due to a technical infringement.
Audi’s first day of racing action Miami was already off to a rocky start when Nico Hulkenberg’s power unit spectacularly failed while en-route to the grid.
With just one car left in the race, Audi relied on Bortoleto, who while on the fringes of the top ten, failed to secure points.
His and Audi’s day was compounded after the race by the announcement from the stewards that the Brazilian had been disqualified due to illegal air intake pressure.
The stewards noted that Audi worked to lower the pressure once it became aware of the issue, but disqualified Bortoleto for the rules breach.
Full decision from the Stewards
“The Stewards reviewed the report received from the Technical Delegate and found that the requirement was for the engine intake air pressure to be less than 4.8 barA at
all times. The pressure was measured by two FIA approved devices that were installed in FIA approved locations situated in the engine intake air system downstream of the charge air cooling system.
“The Stewards heard from the team representatives of Car 5. They admitted that the Technical Delegate’s finding was correct. However, in mitigation, they explained that
this happened over one lap, when the temperatures rose higher than they had expected. As soon as that became apparent, they took steps to bring the pressure back in line with the regulations. While the fact that they took steps to bring the car back in compliance is recognized, the regulations make it clear that the car needs to be in compliance ‘at all times’, which it was not.]
“Given that this is a technical infringement, the usual penalty of a disqualification of Car 5 from the Sprint classification was applied.”
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