Lando Norris, McLaren, Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, 2019

No penalty for McLaren as stewards can’t tell if they performed an ‘unsafe release’

2019 Mexican Grand Prix

Posted on

| Written by

McLaren has avoided a penalty after it was investigated for unsafely releasing Lando Norris’s car from a pit stop.

The stewards were unable to judge whether Norris’s car was sent from the pit without its wheels properly secured.

The team told Norris “stop the car, we’re coming to get you,” after he was released from his pit stop on lap 13. The team pushed him back to the pit box to have his wheel fittings checked.

The stewards investigation noted McLaren were unsure whether Norris’s front-left tyre had been fitted properly. However the stewards were unable to determine whether this had been the case.

“The stewards reviewed video and audio evidence of the pit stop of car four, heard from the team representative and the FIA technical delegate,” they explained.

“The team representative stated that the front left mechanic was not sure if the tyre was secured properly therefore they decided to stop the car for caution.

“After reviewing video evidences, the FIA technical delegate could not establish if the car was in an unsafe condition after being released from the pit stop. The stewards considered that with the available evidence it is not possible to determine if the car was released in an unsafe condition.”

Norris later retired from the race.

Don't miss anything new from RaceFans

Follow RaceFans on social media:

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2019 F1 season

Browse all 2019 F1 season articles

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

8 comments on “No penalty for McLaren as stewards can’t tell if they performed an ‘unsafe release’”

  1. Not again.

  2. To be honest if a team manages to stop the driver leaving the pit lane it should not be an unsafe release anyway.

    1. 2016 US GP.

  3. Exactly what I thought at the time. Now they will have to prove the car was ‘unsafe’.

  4. Kudos to the team from me. Problems happen and their behavior to stop the car and push it back for check was great.

  5. I think McLaren deserve credit here. They weren’t 100% sure if the car was safe so they asked Norris to stop so they could recover the car, make sure it was in a safe condition, and then got him back into the race. They did this knowing it would ruin Norris’ race, thereby putting his safety and the safety of others (other drivers, marshals and spectators) above their race position. It was a very good move by the team.

  6. But pushing him back like that isnt safe at all

    1. Safer than a loose wheel.

Comments are closed.