Mercedes fined $16,000 for physio breach

Mercedes has been fined €10,000 (AUD 16,000) for a breach of the parc fermé rules governing post-race protocol at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and George Russell had earlier delivered Mercedes its best result of the season by finishing second and third in the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.

After the race, however, strict guidelines govern who can enter parc fermé.

A document issued pre-race states: “Other than the team mechanics (with cooling fans if necessary), officials and FIA pre-approved television crews and FIA approved photographers, no one else will be allowed in the designated area once the cars are in the parc fermé area – no team PR personnel.

“Driver physios must wait outside the cool-down room behind the podium until the podium ceremony has concluded.”

As a breach of article 12.2.1 i of the International Sporting Code, a stewards’ report read: “The stewards received a report from the media delegate, which was subsequently confirmed by video evidence, that the physios/drivers’ assistants of cars 44 (Hamilton) and 63 (Russell) entered parc fermé in violation of the post-race interview and podium ceremony procedure that was published prior to the race ‘for the orderly conduct of the event’.

“Article 9.15.1 of the FIA International Sporting Code places the responsibility for the actions on the part of any person providing a service, on the competitor to whom the service is provided.”

The upshot is that Mercedes has been fined €10,000.

The sum is not unprecedented as at last year’s Austrian Grand Prix, the top-three finishers in Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Hamilton, were all given suspended €10,000 fines for a breach of parc ferme rules.