Sergio Perez, Force India, Circuit de Catalunya, 2018

Perez avoids grid penalty over “unusual” loose wheel incident

2018 Spanish Grand Prix

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Force India has been fined €5,000 for releasing Sergio Perez’s car from this pits without having correctly fitted one of its wheels.

However the team was spared a grid penalty because the stewards ruled it was not obvious his front-left wheel hadn’t been fitted properly.

Following an inspection of the car by the FIA’s technical delegate, the stewards agreed that although the wheel had been clamped to the car the wheel nut was cross-threaded, which only became apparent after Perez rejoined the track.

“The stewards determined that the car was released in an unsafe condition in breach of Article 28.13(b) [of the Sporting Regulations] as the wheel was not properly attached to the car when released,” they said in a statement.

“Unusually, the wheel clamped to the car and it was not immediately apparent that the wheel was not fully fitted. The stewards had the technical delegate inspect the car, and his conclusion agreed with the team’s that although the wheel clamped, the wheel nut was cross-threaded.”

The stewards acknowledged Perez handled the problem correctly. “The driver stopped the car in a safe manner as soon as the above became apparent to him. And while there was some confusion on the radio, the team gave appropriate instructions as soon as they realised the issue, which was not apparent until just before turn nine.”

“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 all appropriate measures were taken, and in particular it was not obvious that the car was unsafe when it was released.

“Nevertheless, it is the responsibility of the team to take all measures to ensure that the wheel is fully fitted and accordingly, the stewards fine the team €5,000.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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6 comments on “Perez avoids grid penalty over “unusual” loose wheel incident”

  1. Is it just perception, or are we really having an uptick of improperly fitted wheels? It is surprising that I don’t recall as many incidents from 2017, when the larger wheels were introduced.

  2. Sush meerkat
    11th May 2018, 18:26

    This was clearly Magnussen’s fault!

    1. Not Verstappens? Maybe he Vers’tapped’ it as he drove past :)

  3. This is just getting more and more ridiculous. Honestly, when will they learn from other teams’ similar situations to not do them themselves?

    1. Not ever, because that’s not how it works for anyone?

  4. Something needs to be sorted out on the wheel nuts.

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