13/04/2018
NEWS STORY
No sooner has Charlie Whiting revealed that the FIA is to investigate the increasing number of unsafe releases this year, than there's another one.
In the wake of the two incidents during the Australian Grand Prix and the two involving Kimi Raikkonen in Bahrain, one resulting in serious injury to a crew member, this morning's second free practice session saw Stoffel Vandoorne become the latest to be released back on to the track with a wheel not properly fitted.
Reporting that his right-rear wheel was loose the Belgian parked up on track in the closing moments of the session, his team subsequently being summoned by the stewards.
Having reviewed video and audio of the pit stop and heard from a team representative," the stewards deemed that "the car was released in an unsafe condition in breach of Art. 28.13(b) as the wheel was not properly attached to the car when released.
"The driver stopped the car in a safe manner as soon as the above became apparent to him," said the stewards in a statement. "Consistent with previous decisions of a similar nature, the stewards decided that the grid place penalty mentioned in the above article would not be applied as the driver took all appropriate actions at the first available opportunity."
Accordingly, the stewards fined the team 5,000 euros.
Check out our Friday gallery from Shanghai, here.