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Lewis Hamilton has escaped a penalty for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after being put under investigation following FP3. Third practice at Abu Dhabi was red flagged after Pierre Gasly suffered a puncture when his front right wheel guard sheared off, causing debris to be strewn across the exit kerb at Turn 10. The Mercedes driver was at the start of his timed lap when the red flag came out, and subsequently passed Lando Norris and Kevin Magnussen as the light panel showed the red indicator. As a result Hamilton was investigated for breaching Article 2.5.4.1 b) of Appendix H of the International Sporting Code, which states “during practice, all cars shall immediately reduce speed and proceed slowly back to their respective pits.” The stewards ruled that Hamilton "took every reasonable action to comply with the regulations" in that he immediately reduced speed at the earliest opportunity upon the first indication of the red light panel. ...

Martin Brundle believes that it is "curious" that Lewis Hamilton managed to escape a penalty during the opening laps of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The Mercedes driver was battling with Carlos Sainz during the opening laps of the race, when he had to take the escape road at Turn 6 and bounce over the sausage kerbs. Hamilton rejoined and kept the position, however in the subsequent laps he was told to give the place back to Sainz, suggesting race control had advised the decision. "Sainz was correctly exonerated after being investigated for forcing Hamilton off, who was then asked to hand the place back to Sainz which he duly did before quickly re-passing him," explained Brundle in his column for Sky Sports . "Then It was announced by race control that there would be no further action for gaining an advantage off track and curious ly Hamilton was exonerated too." V...

The 2022 F1 season may have finished, but many drivers will still carry over penalty points accrued over the course of the campaign into 2023. Drivers can accrue penalty points for indiscretions over a given race weekend which are kept on their Super Licence for a 12-month period. If a driver reaches 12 penalty points within the 12-month period, they will receive an automatic one-race ban. Pierre Gasly is the driver most at risk of a race ban, with the Frenchman currently sitting on ten penalty points. The Frenchman is not due to lose any points until May 22, after the 2023 season's first seven Grands Prix - or six if the Chinese Grand Prix is not replaced. Behind Gasly, Lance Stroll and Daniel Ricciardo are on eight points - though with Ricciardo not set to race in 2023, his tally is less of an issue. At the other end of the table, Valtteri Bottas, Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz currently have no penalty points against their names. ...

Max Verstappen believes that Red Bull's penalty for breaching the cost cap will "hurt" them, but has backed the team to maintain their momentum. The 2022 F1 season proved to be a dominant one for Verstappen and the Milton Keynes-based squad; Verstappen claimed his second World Championship with four races to spare, while Red Bull clinched the Constructors' Championship for the first time since 2013. However, one potential dampener on the year was the confirmation in October that the outfit would be punished for breaching the 2021 budget cap. Red Bull were ordered to pay a $7 million fine, along with having to forfeit 10 per cent of their aerodynamic development allowance. Despite this, Verstappen feels that his team have the right factors in place to be able to cope with the impact, given their level of competitiveness in 2022. Verstappen assesses impact of cost cap pena...

The FIA has clarified how Formula 1 drivers must serve in-race penalties following the confusion around Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia. Alonso was parked too far to the left of his grid box in Jeddah, and was hit with a five-second penalty, serving it at his sole pitstop. However, despite the penalty appearing to be correctly served, race control reported to the stewards in the closing laps that this was not the case - the rear jack appearing to touch the Aston Martin before the five-seconds had elapsed. Alonso was handed a further penalty, demoting him off the podium, but Aston later were successful in getting the decision overturned, reinstating the 100th podium of his career. A similar situation had unfolded with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon in Bahrain, with the FIA now clarifying that no equipment whatsoever must touch the car when it is serving a penalty . Viewed by others: ...

Carlos Sainz has blasted Formula 1 stewards for his Australian Grand Prix penalty , labelling it as "the biggest disgrace ." On the Lap 57 restart following the Kevin Magnussen red flag, Sainz tagged Fernando Alonso spinning him out as the race was again suspended following further incidents. While the Grand Prix was halted, the stewards handed the Spaniard a five-second time penalty for the incident, despite his pleading over the radio for no sanction to be handed out until the stewards had spoken with him. The penalty dropped Sainz from fourth to 12th and out of the points as Ferrari walked away pointless following Charles Leclerc's Lap 1 retirement. "I'm not going to speak or comment on it until I go the stewards and they revert this penalty ," a furious Sainz explained to Viaplay. "It is the biggest disgrace I've seen in the sport for many years and whatever I'm going to say now, I'd rather not say it." Sainz wa...

Carlos Sainz has been hit with further Formula 1 punishment by the stewards after his Australian Grand Prix time penalty . Judged "wholly" at fault for colliding with Fernando Alonso on the Lap 57 restart, the stewards handed him a five-second time penalty, demoting the Ferrari from fourth to 12th. Post-race, Sainz was furious, labelling the decision "the biggest disgrace" he had seen. Having taken into account testimony, video and telemetry evidence, the stewards have given Sainz two penalty points on his superlicence for the incident. Fortunately for Sainz, they are his first for the 12 month period, with 12 points needed to trigger a ban. Source: https://thefoxposts.com/further-punishment-for-sainz-after-australian-gp-time-penalty-TheFOXposts-17056.html?utm_source=blogger_source&utm_medium=blogger_medium&utm_campaign=blogger_cam Category: F1 News Post by: TheFOXposts.Com

Ferrari Team Principal Fred Vasseur says Red Bull’s punishment for breaching F1’s cost cap was too lenient. After all 10 teams submitted their accounts for the 2021 season, it was revealed in autumn 2022 that Red Bull were the only squad to have gone over the $145 million limit imposed on each outfit. This initially put the team $1.8 million over the limit, but after the FIA sought clarity on a tax credit issue and accepted the team’s explanation, the total overspend was around $400,000. As punishment, it was announced in October that Red Bull would be required to pay a $7 million fine and forfeit 10 per cent of their aerodynamic development allowance. Despite their sanction, Red Bull have begun the 2023 in imperious form, winning all three races of the season so far with an RB19 that appears to be the class of the field. Viewed by others: Carlo...

Damon Hill remains bemused by the five-second penalty that relegated Carlos Sainz from the points at the Australian Grand Prix. The Ferrari driver was punished for contact which sent Fernando Alonso 's Aston Martin spinning in the Turn 1 restart melee with two laps to go and was demoted from fourth to 12th in the finishing order. But Sainz's penalty was complicated by the reordering of the race standings, with red flags thrown after further incidents involving both Alpines, Logan Sargeant and Nyck de Vries, as Alonso was reinstated to his podium position to eradicate the impact of his spin. "The Carlos Sainz five-second penalty in a race that didn't exist, that affected the outcome of the race that happened afterwards, I am still scratching my head over that," Hill told the F1 Nation podcast. "I think he does have a point. "I mean, maybe what they should have done is that instead of giving you a five-second penalty in a race that di...

Ferrari's bid to overturn Carlos Sainz's Australian Grand Prix five-second time penalty has been dismissed by Formula 1 stewards. The Scuderia requested a right of review over Sainz's penalty , which he was given in Melbourne for clipping Fernando Alonso out on the chaotic Lap 57 restart. With no more green flag racing possible, Sainz crossed the line in fourth place, but was demoted to 12th place, finishing last on what proved to be a pointless weekend for the team after Charles Leclerc's Lap 1 retirement. Viewed by others: Charles Leclerc Should Leclerc look to move away from Ferrari to chase title glory? Analysis Red Bull Racing The sec...

Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz says he is "very disappointed" with the FIA's decision to dismiss an appeal against the Spaniard's five-second time penalty at the Australian Grand Prix. Sainz was slapped with the penalty after clipping Fernando Alonso during the chaotic Lap 57 restart in Melbourne. With the Safety Car deployed and no more green flag racing possible, Sainz crossed the line fourth, but the penalty saw him demoted to 12th and last place. As a time penalty cannot be appeal ed, Ferrari requested a Right of Review, which was rejected on Tuesday by the independent - but FIA-appointed - stewards on the basis that no new evidence was presented. © XPBimages Sainz calls for talks on inconsistencies Writing on his Instagram page shortly after the announcement, a disappointed Sainz said he accepted the decision, but called for discussions about inconsistencies in decision-m...

Yuki Tsunoda believes Zhou Guanyu "pretended" to go off the track after the Spanish Grand Prix Formula 1 crash that cost the former a points finish. On Lap 56 of 66 in Barcelona, Zhou attempted to drive around the outside of Tsunoda at Turns 1 and 2, but was forced into the escape road by the AlphaTauri driver, with both continuing on unscathed. However, the stewards felt that the move was enough to earn Tsunoda a five-second time penalty which dropped him from a ninth-place (and two points) finish to 12th and outside the points. Post-race, the Japanese racer was not impressed by the Alfa Romeo diving for the escape road, saying Zhou " pretended " to go off. Tsunoda unhappy with Zhou "To be honest, after I've given literally everything on every lap, I feel that it's a really harsh penalty ," Tsunoda explained to media, including TheFOXposts.Com , after Zhou, Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc were all promoted up one place o...

In the search for a more exciting battle between the 10 Formula 1 teams, the financial regulations were created in 2021. The rules dictate that the teams are only allowed to spend a certain amount per year, with of course some exceptions. In 2021 that started at $145 million, followed by $140 million in 2022, and in 2023 that has decreased to $135 million, plus an increase of $1.2 million owing to additional races. The teams will submit their figures for each season at the start of the year for the previous season, after which the FIA will audit the teams accounts. In 2022 this came in October, when the results showed that Red Bull had went over the cost cap and committed a minor breach. A penalty followed: a seven million dollar fine and a 10% reduction in aero development time (wind tunnel and simulations) for one year. Both the former Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto and now his successor Fred Vasseur have reached the same verdict on Red Bull's punishment: That the ...

Daniel Ricciardo admits that Red Bull's 10 per cent loss of their aerodynamic development allowance as a result of breaching the 2021 cost cap is a "serious number", but the punishment is one he expects the team to be able to manage. The penalty was confirmed in October, alongside the Milton Keynes-based squad having to pay a $7 million fine due to the breach. Various responses emerged across the paddock, with team boss Christian Horner arguing that the loss of aerodynamic development could cost them "up to half a second per lap", while Ferrari's Laurent Mekies expressed concerns over whether the punishment would have enough of an impact . Ahead of his return to the squad as a reserve driver for 2023, Ricciardo has given his take on the issue. Ricciardo reflects on Red Bull penalty "You can't deny that it doesn't hurt, because, when you...

Even with before Red Bull were on the verge of securing their double championship success in 2022, attentions had already turned to next year's car, which threatens to be faced with even greater challenges than this season's challenger. The team face an additional hurdle of a cost cap penalty, handed to them for their overspending in the 2021 season. Along with a fine, the team have been slapped with a 10% reduction in wind tunnel and computer simulation time. Many key figures in the paddock have played down the impact of the punishment, which has caused some frustration, not least from Red Bull's Technical Director, Pierre Wache, who sat down for an exclusive chat with TheFOXposts.Com . "It is our main tool of development during the year. It makes me a little bit angry when I see the comments from some people saying it's not a big penalty," said Wache. "When you see how the rules are done, the handicap raise already affects us. Wache refe...