Liam Lawson has lost his ninth starting place for the Formula 1 Mexico Grand Prix.
The Racing Bulls impressed at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Saturday and managed to get both cars into Q3. The team then established themselves as the ‘best of the rest’ in eighth and ninth places, but Lawson now faces a comeback on Sunday.
The New Zealander was disqualified by the FIA for a technical infraction. The summons document already indicated that “Lawson failed to meet the minimum power requirement for the MGU-K immediately after crossing the finish line on his fastest lap in Q2 at 15:47:36.”
Following a visit to the stewards, the result was the same as for almost all technical infractions: disqualification. In practice, Lawson did not follow prescribed procedures immediately after setting his fastest lap in Q2, meaning he did not meet the MGU-K’s mandatory descent rate.
The FIA said Lawson ran out of battery at the end of his flying lap, causing his MGU-K deployment to stop completely and the MGU-K’s power to instantly drop from 350 kW to zero. This is contrary to technical regulations.
This electrical power must instead be reduced gradually in accordance with article C5.12.6 of the technical regulations. It stipulates maximum reductions of 50 or 100 kW per second:
“The maximum pilot power demand shall not be reduced to a level greater than the rates defined below when the DC electrical power of the ERS-K is greater than 100 kW:
A. 50 kW per 1 s period in competitions where the FIA determines that the power limited distance exceeds 3,500 m. The vehicle fundamentals used for calculating the power-limited distance can be found in document FIA-F1-DOC-034.
b. 100 kW per 1 second period in all other competitions.
In Lawson’s case, the reduction in electrical power was much greater after he crossed the finish line without immediately releasing the accelerator, as also described in the stewards’ report:
“The evidence presented, which was accepted by all parties present, showed that after the control line at the end of his fastest lap in Q2, the driver did not immediately switch off the engine. This resulted in the MGU-K deployment reduction rate required to achieve the regulated ‘reduction’ not being achieved.”
The summons document further clarified this violation as follows: “The maximum driver power demand and DC electrical power of the ERS-K were reduced at rates greater than permitted by regulations. »
Liam Lawson, Racing Bulls
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Formula 1 via Getty Images
During the hearing, all parties concluded that Racing Bulls did not derive any sporting benefit from the infraction, although this conclusion was not sufficient to prevent disqualification. After all, technical infractions are always black and white.
“The team argued that this did not provide any performance advantage, but it is clear that non-compliance with the Technical Regulations is not excused if no performance advantage is obtained. Furthermore, these regulations require a car to comply with them at all times during an event.
“The stewards note in particular that the team has self-disclosed the infraction, but there is a wealth of precedent that requires us, despite any extenuating circumstances, to impose a disqualification penalty when a car does not comply with the Technical Regulations.”
Deceleration rate is a particularly sensitive issue, as the FIA intervened earlier this year to crack down on alleged qualifying tricks used by Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Red Bull. These teams had also found ways to circumvent the maximum deceleration rate, although in their case this was deliberate. With teams having been warned several times, the FIA said it had no other choice.
This means Lawson will have to start from the back of the grid on Sunday and face a fight through the field. This disqualification is good news for Alpine, one of whose rivals for fifth place in the constructors’ championship is now forced to start from behind. In the standings, however, the Racing Bulls still hold a comfortable 33-point advantage.
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