The Red Bull team faced significant damage to Sergio Perez’s single-seater following his accident during the sprint race. The team, in addition to working during the Parc Fermé, this time when normally the single-seaters must not be transformed, changed many elements on the Red Bull.
The commissioners looked at the list of modifications made by the Red Bull mechanics. They believe that with certain parts, installed outside of the authorized hours, plus the addition of a new survival cell, the single-seater cannot be considered identical.
« After the accident, Sergio Perez’s car was completely disassembled, then covered with seals in accordance with the needs of the Parc Fermé. » This disassembly seems to infringe upon article 27.2 of the sports regulations, which therefore consider the car to have been “too” disassembled.
Having reassembled the single-seater, including a new survival cell, the race commissioners consider the single-seater to be new, as if it were a third car built by Red Bull this weekend. Perez can’t keep his starting grid position. The commissioners therefore ask Perez to start from the pits. The Mexican driver had clocked the 13th fastest time.
Note that the commissioners believe that this regulation is subject to confusion and request clarification on this point at future meetings.
Article 27.2 of the sports regulations concerning spare parts states:
« A set including a survival cell as defined in article 12.1 of the Technical Regulation and additional components will be considered a car in this context if the survival cell is equipped with anything other than the following components:
a) the components that exist in whole or in part within the survival cell, with the exception of the battery as defined in Article 5.1.8 of the Technical Regulation ;
b) the components of the front axle suspension as defined in Article 10.1.1 of the Technical Regulation;
c) the steering assembly as listed in article 10.5 of the Technical Regulation;
d) lateral impact structures;
e) any component permanently linked to the survival cell;
f) all fixtures attached to the survival cell (such as engine mounts). »
By changing some of these elements, it therefore seems logical to the commissioners to consider Perez’s crashed single-seater as now a new car in the sense of the regulation.
