Red Bull were hit with a £43,000 (€50,000) fine, half suspended, after a member of staff entered ‘the gate well area’ of the pit wall during the formation lap on Sunday. The member of Laurent Mekies’ squad was reportedly targeting a strip of tape used to set a grid reference for Lando Norris.
McLaren and Norris employ a tape system on the pit wall to give the 25-year-old a tangible marker as he pulls into his grid slots on race-days. The importance of this was made clear in Bahrain, where the Brit was hit with a penalty for being out of his grid box at the start of the race.
According to a report from The Race, though, evidence presented to the stewards showed a Red Bull team member reaching over the pit wall in an attempt to remove Norris’ marker tape. This is not the first time that McLaren’s rivals have attempted to hijack the reference points, either.
Mekies addressed the investigation ahead of the stewards’ report. “It was felt that some time during the grid procedures, one of our guys had not followed the officials’ or some marshal’s instructions,” he said.
“We spoke with our people, they are very positive that they have followed marshals’ instructions at all times. So I think it’s probably a misunderstanding there.
“We went to see the video with the FIA and for sure it’s something we can do better in the future, but certainly on our side, we do not feel that we have ignored an instruction, so I think it’s a very small thing. But nonetheless, something we address in the future.”
The stewards took a dim view of the act and hit Red Bull with a £43,000 (€50,000) fine, half of which is suspended for the remainder of the season. However, the penalty was issued on safety grounds, rather than being against the spirit of fair competition.
In the FIA’s report, it was revealed that the team member in question “did not appear to react to their efforts to prevent him from entering the gate well area.” The Red Bull representative later argued that the staffer had claimed not to have heard the pit marshalls.
The report continued: “However, the Stewards determine that any person affiliated to a team or other stakeholders should be aware that entering the track or hindering the safety measures to prepare the track for the race after the grid has been cleared is absolutely prohibited.
“Thus, irrespective of whether or not the instructions of the relevant officials have been realized by the person concerned, hindering or delaying the process of closing the gates before the race start must be considered as an unsafe act and therefore a significant penalty to the team is warranted. In order to prevent any reoccurrence, a portion of the financial penalty is suspended.”
