27/07/2018
NEWS STORY
Renault has been fined 10,000 euros for a violation of the tyre usage rules.
The French outfit, which saw Nico Hulkenberg lose much of his morning running following an electrical shutdown which necessitated the replacing of his energy store, was subsequently called before the stewards accused of breaching Article 24.2 a) and 24.4 g iv) of the Sporting Regulations.
The stewards heard from a team representative, the FIA’s technical assistant responsible for tyres, and examined tyre scan data.
It appears Renault seemingly mixed two left front tyres from two different sets in their garage. As a result, a mixed set was used in FP1.
As the car stopped on circuit during the session, the tyres were not scanned back into the pits by the scrutineers, thus preventing the error from being discovered in FP1.
That first set was returned electronically after FP1. However three of the tyres that were registered in the first set were actually in the second set, which was then used in FP2.
The team, realizing its error, reported this to the scrutineer as these were scanned.
The stewards deemed that as all the tyres were of the same ultrasoft specification; no extra tyres were used in either session; the correct number of tyres were returned after FP1, if not the correct tyres; there was no advantaged gained; and because the team reported the error themselves; the stewards took these matters in mitigation and issued a fine of €10,000 which is suspended for the remainder of the season.
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