Racing Bulls hit with FIA fine after Lawson drama at Canadian GP

In the opening minutes of the first and only practice session for the Canadian Grand Prix, Lawson experienced a loss of power steering and was having issues with his gear shift. This left the New Zealander stranded on track, causing the first of three red flags.

After FP1, it was announced that Lawson and a Racing Bulls representative were called to the stewards in relation to an alleged breach of Article C9.3 of the FIA F1 Regulations. And after sprint qualifying, it was revealed that Racing Bulls had been found to have breached the article.

In the document, the FIA said, “The competitor (Visa Cash App Racing Bulls F1 Team) is fined €30,000, €20,000 of which is suspended for a period of 12 months subject to no further breach of this regulation by the Competitor, for either of its cars.”

It was explained in Document 26 that “The Stewards heard from the driver of Car 30 (Liam Lawson), team representatives, the FIA Technical Delegate and the FIA Electronics Engineer and reviewed telemetry and in-car video evidence. The team’s engineer explained how the CDS system worked. It was noted that the system on this car performs two roles – the one for which is it primarily intended, namely to release the clutch when the car is stopped, and the engine is not working, and the other relates to the anti-stall system. In this case, a ruptured joint caused a hydraulic leak, which caused the car to stop.”

Diving further, the explanation continued, “The CDS, when activated by the marshal, then failed to release the clutch, and hence the car could not be moved. This is a serious matter. It resulted in the session being red-flagged. Had the system worked as intended by the regulations, the incident could have been dealt with swiftly via deployment of the Virtual Safety Car. The Stewards note the concern of the FIA Technical Delegate over the dual purpose of the CDS on this car."

As long as Racing Bulls do not breach Article C9.3 again in the next 12 months, the fine stands at €10,000.

As the Canadian GP is a sprint weekend, Lawson was expected to be back in the car for sprint qualifying just a few hours later. However, he was unable to participate as the car was not ready. Lawson will now have to start the sprint from the pit lane, alongside Alex Albon, who was also unable to participate in sprint qualifying.