Mercedes took the 1-2 victory in a thrilling 2015 British Grand Prix. The Mercedes drivers were overtaken off of the grid because of a poor start. It wasn’t until the first rounds of pit stops that Mercedes would claim the lead once again. There were some pit shenanigans occurring in the Mercedes garage, some of which was illegal.
When the pit window was about to open, Mercedes deployed the crew into the box as though they were preparing to service a car. As both of the Mercedes cars passed the pit entrance, it became evident that the team was not actually pitting a car. The crew then retreated to the garage. This action was in direct violation of the 2015 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.
Section 23, paragraph 11 of the 2015 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations states:
“Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete.”
The team claim that they had plans to pit Nico Rosberg, but didn’t carry through. However, it is the common opinion that the Mercedes team was trying to trick the Williams team into making a pit stop that would have cost them the lead of the Grand Prix. Regardless of the reason for illegally deploying the pit crew, this was still a violation of the regulations. No penalty has been issued yet and it is not expected that we will see one.
