Lewis Hamilton and George Russell have kept their second and third-place finishes in today’s Spanish Grand Prix after their team was investigated for a breach of parc ferme restrictions.
However Mercedes have been fined €10,000 (£8,613) after the drivers’ physiotherapists were found to have violated the parc ferme restrictions.The stewards noted that “the physios/drivers’ assistants of cars 44 [Hamilton] and 63 [Russell] entered parc ferme in violation of the post race interview and podium ceremony procedure that was published prior to the race ‘for the orderly conduct of the event’.”
Teams were advised before the race that “driver physios must wait outside the cool down room behind the podium until the podium ceremony has concluded following the instructions given to all teams by the media delegate.”
The teams are responsible for the actions of any individuals providing services for them, the stewards pointed out: “Article 9.15.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code places the responsibility for the actions on the part of any person providing a service, on the competitor to whom the service is provided.”
Mercedes and two other teams committed a similar breach at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix. On that occasion the team was given a suspended €10,000 fine.
The team scored its best finish of the season to date in today’s race, adding 33 points to its tally and overtaking Aston Martin for second place in the constructors championship.
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2023 Spanish Grand Prix
- Ben Sulayem raises safety concerns over “too many people on the grid” at races
- Why Ferrari say their change in design is the result of “discipline”, not “copying”
- Hamilton and Russell were seeking tow from Sainz when they collided – Mercedes
- Red Bull’s Spanish GP diffuser update was ‘inspired by rivals’ including Williams
- Why McLaren always doubted second-row start in Spain would lead to points finish
Qeki (@qeki)
4th June 2023, 18:52
FIA: Not penalizing for shortcutting but for people standing in the wrong position. 👍
lucifer (@lucifer)
4th June 2023, 19:15
you really couldn’t make this stuff up, only in F1.
Steve (@scbriml)
4th June 2023, 21:25
Another FIA nothingburger.
tielemst
4th June 2023, 23:19
I could understand a (very) little bit if this would happen before the race, but after? Gimme a break.
Yaru (@yaru)
5th June 2023, 7:40
It’s because they are driver weighing regulations that must be followed. They don’t want the drivers to be given stuff before that happens that they might cheat it.
Remember that driver+seat must meet a minimum weight requirement starting around 2018, cos the pressure to be extremely light was huge that it was starting to be bad for their health. Drivers still of course are under huge pressure to be as light as possible (this is still F1 where every gram matters) but nowhere near as bad as it was before the minimum weight regulations came in.
tielemst
5th June 2023, 8:12
Thanks for the info, I was under the impression that the weighing was immediately when they got out of the car, so before going.to the cooldown room.
SteveP
5th June 2023, 8:33
You’re right, it is, otherwise the water they are drinking would affect the weight.
This is a manufactured “stewards have authority” incident, which is having the opposite effect to what they are wanting.
Dr. Anthony Webster
5th June 2023, 1:29
Mercedes should lose the 2nd and 3rd places for violating the.
Had it been any other team Mercedes would have drafted legal proceedings.
The fine is minuscule
Max was find a lot more for touching their car.
Wake up FIA,stop favouring Mercseds
Coventry Climax
5th June 2023, 2:13
Which type of new fans was it again, they are trying to attract?
Moshambles (@moshambles)
6th June 2023, 8:40
This is disgusting! Throw them out of the championship NOW!!