Ferrari has been slammed with a large fine for their pitstop accident which resulted in the injury of a crew mechanic who had been working on the rear tyre. The FIA found Ferrari in violation of the sporting regulations.
As reported after the race, the FIA launched an investigation into the pitstop mistake that broke a crew member’s leg and ended Kimi Räikkönen’s race prematurely. The incident occurred during Räikkönen’s second pitstop from the soft tyres to the supersoft tyre. There were issues getting the left-rear tyre off of the car. Despite this, the car was given the signal to exit the pit box and a crew member’s leg was run over, sending him to the hospital with a broken lower leg.
The FIA heard Ferrari’s explanation of the incident and decided to impose a €50,000 fine. The team had also been fined €5,000 for a similar incident in the second free practice session. The stewards found Ferrari in breach of article 28.13.A of the Sporting Regulations, which states that “Cars must not be released from a garage or pit stop position in way that could endanger pit lane personnel or another driver”.
The incident is believed to have been the result of a crew member who had failed to override the automatic pit light system that instructed Räikkönen to go. The current computer systems that the teams use are set to automatically detect when a car is safe to be released from the pits unless a crew member signals that there is a mistake.
