The weekend into Austria keep giving us surprises. It's just recently concluded the second seasonal round of the Sprints, with the victory of an elusive Max Verstappen, followed by the duo Ferrari who put on a show with a duel to the limits. The activity on the track is over, and the usual media dances begin to catch words e sensations of the protagonists of the weekend, comes another news to shake the paddock. There summons from the marshals for 7 pilots, called to answer for their actions. But what happened and who are the pilots involved?
He is always among the protagonists
Once again at the heart of the matter is Sergio Perez, already penalized yesterday for exceeding the track limits in qualifying on Friday. Along with him, however, there are other names, many names. In addition to the Mexican were summoned: George Russell finished 4th, Esteban Ocon, 6 ° Mick Schumacher, Daniel Ricciardo e Lance stroll. Schumacher finished 9th ahead of Ricciardo in 12th and Stroll in 13th.
He also joined this merry bunch Sebastian Vettel, already summoned for another matter, regarding his behavior during the pilot meeting. Vettel would have "left the pilots' meeting which was held at 19pm on Friday 30 July, without permission, and expressing disappointment with the meeting. Drivers of this level are role models for all drivers and in this case Vettel fell short of this standard.” Another rebellious gesture that this time cost the German a good €25.000.
The violation
But getting back to the matter under consideration, the reason for which these drivers, Vettel included, were called up concerns i messages received by the team in the formation lap of the Sprint race in Austria. The sporting code prohibits any communication at this stage, as “The driver must drive the car alone and without help”. An episode punished in the past even with a 10-second penalty. This, in the case of our 7 pilots would have happened over the second round of training of the Sprint, the one called into question by the sudden stop of Guanyu-Zhou, just before the starting grid.
The decision
Through an official document, the FIA communicated that, after speaking with the team managers and collecting the evidence, the commissioners came to the conclusion that the messages from the pit wall were permitted. Because of this it was decided not to intervene, calling into question the "No further action”. The results therefore remain unchanged with respect to the arrival order of the Sprint. Perez saves 5th place, Russell 4th and Ocon 6th. Although this is only a first taste of what we will see on the track tomorrow, it is clear that the tension continues to grow, as well as the misunderstandings on points of the regulation punctually denied and redefined case by case by the FIA.
