Formula 1

RICCIARDO AND RENAULT WILL NOT BE PENALISED

Published

2 years ago

23/10/2020

RICCIARDO AND RENAULT WILL NOT BE PENALISED

The FIA decided to give the team a warning after the error during the second free practice session.

Daniel Ricciardo and Renault have escaped with a warning from the Portuguese Grand Prix stewards over a tyre breach Pirelli has claimed was “a genuine mistake”.

FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported the Australian and his team to the stewards for a breach of the sporting regulations in not using the complete set of tyres of the same specification as allocated by the FIA.

The first half-hour of the second practice session was given over to Pirelli testing a range of 2021 prototype tyres, but during that period it was discovered Ricciardo’s car “was fitted with the front left tyre of the sets in the opposite way”.

But following an investigation, a statement read that “it was agreed that the team used the incorrect left-front tyre from a set of a different specification which is an offence with no apparent sporting benefit to the team as the set in question was a development set”.

Pirelli boss Mario Isola chuckled when asked about the situation, appreciating why an error was made.

Isola said: “They made a mistake. It happens because all the prototypes were black without a label on the sidewall.

“With the race tyres you have three colours and you recognise immediately if you have three tyres that are white and one tyre that is yellow. It’s much easier.

“With the prototypes, it’s only the number of the set [on the sidewall] but not the colour, so it was a genuine mistake.”