Miami race stewards took no further action against Mercedes for the pit lane violation, but Valtteri Bottas was not so lucky as he was demoted three places in the sprint.
After Friday’s qualifying sprint for the Miami Grand Prix, Mercedes, Bottas and Oscar Piastri were summoned to the stewards for two violations.
Mercedes avoids penalty as stewards call for FIA action
During SQ2, Lewis Hamilton’s mechanics appeared to be working on his car without wearing a helmet, which is in violation of Article 34.13 of the Sporting Regulations.
However, the stewards took no action against Mercedes, saying “many other teams” had done the same.
“While investigating the team’s conduct regarding this violation (reported to us by race control), we discovered that many other teams were engaged in similar work without wearing helmets or eye protection. “It has been determined that he was within or very close to the pit stop location during the session,” the stewards’ note said.
“Indeed, those working on the car within the pit stop location would also be in breach of Article 34.13 (e.g. touching the car, jacking it up, etc.). Someone who was slightly outside the stop position may not have violated the above clause, but from a safety point of view (which is probably the purpose of this rule) the difference was not obvious to us .
“Additionally, it appears to be established practice to jack up the car while using a blower to cool the brakes in order to return the car to the garage within the pit stop location. It may violate regulations.
“Therefore, in these circumstances, penalizing one team would not serve a useful purpose when all or nearly all teams may have violated this provision in some way.”
They asked the FIA to “consider whether any changes need to be made to current practice during qualifying/D-print qualifying, or to the regulations themselves.”
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Valtteri Bottas sent off at the back of the sprint grid
However, they were less lenient when it came to Bottas, who was called out for interfering with Piastri in Turn 1 of SQ1.
Bottas was on his cool-down lap heading into Turn 1 when Piastri in a McLaren jumped out from behind him. The two were lucky to avoid contact as Piastri was pushed inside.
The stewards’ verdict was as follows: “On the straight before Turn 1, car No. 77 [Bottas] After completing a fast lap, car No. 81 was driving slowly along the racing line. [Piastri] It was approaching with a fast lap. Cars No. 81 and No. 77 had to take evasive action to avoid a collision.
“The main responsibility lies with the drivers to ensure that they do not get into situations that unnecessarily impede other drivers. Here the No. 77 car was driving slowly on the racing line, causing the situation.
“However, during the hearing both the team and the driver of the No. 77 car admitted that the team did not warn the driver of the No. 77 car that the No. 81 car was approaching on a fast lap. That was clearly on the team’s part. It was a mistake that contributed greatly to the incident.”
Bottas, who received a third-place penalty, qualified 18th in the Sauber S and fell to the back of the pack.
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