Three mechanics cost McLaren 5,000 euros

(Motorsport-Total.com) – On Sunday evening after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the McLaren team was delighted to be leading the Constructors’ World Championship for the first time since 2014. But the joy was marred by a penalty imposed by the FIA ​​race stewards shortly after crossing the finish line.

McLaren has been fined 5,000 euros for violating Article 34.13 of the Sporting Regulations. Article 34.13 states, among other things: “Team personnel may only be in the pit lane immediately before working on a vehicle and must leave as soon as the work is completed.”

A paragraph that was introduced in Formula 1 after the 2013 Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, when a cameraman was hit by a loose wheel from Mark Webber’s Red Bull. The FIA’s obvious logic: the fewer people there are in the pit lane, the lower the risk that someone will be injured.

However, when Pierre Gasly was the last driver to make a pit stop on lap 50 in Baku on Sunday, three McLaren mechanics were outside the garage. Strictly speaking, this is not allowed because neither Oscar Piastri nor Lando Norris had planned a pit stop.

The mechanics were on their way to the parc ferme to collect the team’s cars after the race. When the race is over, the pit lane closes and all drivers are stopped at the beginning by FIA officials so that they can park their cars there. A few McLaren mechanics had simply set off a little too early.

The race stewards wrote in their statement: “Although it is not unusual for team members to enter the parc ferme area before the end of the race, McLaren had team members and equipment in the pit lane while other teams were still in the pits, thus creating a potentially unsafe situation.”

A ruling that complies with the rules, but with common sense it is also a little petty. The three mechanics feel that they are far away from the so-called “fast lane” in which the cars drive through the pit lane, and are perhaps a meter outside the garage area – in a situation in which the race was already neutralized with the VSC yellow.