Marussia and Caterham will not be penalised by the stewards of the United States Grand Prix for failing to participate in this weekend’s round of the world championship.
However the stewards have formally notified FIA president Jean Todt of their absence, which could lead to further action.
Under article 13.2 (f) of the Sporting Regulations teams undertake “to participate in every event with the number of cars and drivers entered”. In their applications to compete in the championship teams must “undertake to participate in each and every event”.
Earlier today the FIA put out a statement encouraging the stewards to take into consideration the financial hardship experienced by the two teams. The stewards acknowledged this in their rulings on the teams, which read:
“In view of the [teams’] current financial circumstances, the stewards also decide not to impose any penalty. Because of the particular nature of the breach, the matter is referred to the attention of the FIA president.”
2014 United States Grand Prix
Image © Caterham/LAT
TomMK (@tommk)
30th October 2014, 21:36
Well that’s nice of them.
@HoHum (@hohum)
30th October 2014, 21:48
OK Jean the ball (or is it a hot potato) is back in your court.
BasCB (@bascb)
30th October 2014, 22:09
I guess he will just say he is not interesed in ball games @hohum. Sigh, we could do with a pro active FIA right now.
matt90 (@matt90)
30th October 2014, 22:13
“the stewards have formally notified FIA president Jean Todt of their absence”
Thank God, I’m sure he wouldn’t have known about it otherwise.
Strontium (@strontium)
31st October 2014, 0:35
HAHAHAHA, @matt90 I had a good laugh about this one!
kpcart
31st October 2014, 13:59
there is protocol to be followed, contracts, legal documents…
Harris
30th October 2014, 23:33
Not sure if this has been brought up but much like the corner cutting rule of ‘gaining and advantage/holding advantage’ … By missing two races arnt Caterham and Marussia avoiding engine penalties by not using extra units they might need if they were competing in this and the next race?
Estesark (@estesark)
31st October 2014, 9:33
That’s not exactly gaining an advantage, is it? Otherwise my own F1 team, which has missed all the races of the season so far and has therefore not used any engine components, would be in a fantastic position right now.
Harris
31st October 2014, 12:37
ah, but in not getting penalties, they may find themselves further up the grid/on the grid where as other teams may be getting engine component penalties and starting at the back or from the pit lane
Swordsman_uk (@swordsman_uk)
30th October 2014, 23:55
Sounds like a legal formality so that the FIA can hold the right to do something about it later if they choose to or if the situation changes.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
31st October 2014, 1:52
No one is going to take away the Monaco point.
frood19 (@frood19)
31st October 2014, 11:42
I have a horrible feeling that there will be some kind of punitive consequences. I shudder to think of it, but I wouldn’t put it past Bernie to withhold Marussia’s prize money for 9th place for some bizarre legal reason.
Bob (@bobespirit62)
31st October 2014, 18:36
Marussia’s in 10th place, not 9th. I believe 10th place prize money is roughly $30 mil, but I don’t know how it’s paid out; during the year or all at the end.
Strontium (@strontium)
31st October 2014, 22:28
@bobespirit62 Marussia is in 9th with 2 points, ahead of both Sauber and Caterham who have 0 and 0 points respectively.
Bob (@bobespirit62)
13th November 2014, 21:54
Yes, my mistake. Without looking at the table it just didn’t occur to me that Sauber has zero points; how could that be!!! How could they have fallen soooooo far; it’s very sad and if the talk is true, they may be headed out of F1, too, along with Force India and Lotus. The lack of proper profit sharing in F1 is ridiculous and it’s going to bite the big teams, who are hoarding the profits, in the end. How is an F1 of 4 or 5 teams running 3 or more cars viable? Is it better to have a grid 12 or 15 nearly equal cars than 22 where the gap at the back is 3 to 4 secs/lap? Maybe it is, but I just don’t see how 4 or 5 teams is better than 9, 10 or 11 where the profits are shared more equally and everyone has at least a chance of being competitive.