Red Bull receives ‘significant penalty’ for grid breach

Red Bull Racing has been handed what stewards deem a “significant penalty” following a breach of the International Sporting Code.

A post-race investigation found one of the team’s mechanics had entered the gate well after cars began to move off on their formation lap, constituting “an unsafe act”.

Red Bull fined for ‘unsafe act’ at United States Grand Prix

The incident has resulted in Red Bull being handed €50,000 fine, half of which is suspended to the end of the season on the condition that there are no similar breaches.

“A team member re-entered the gate well area at Gate 1 in proximity of the second grid position after the formation lap had commenced and at the moment the pit marshals started to close the gate,” officials wrote in their summary.

“According to the report from the pit marshals the team member did not appear to react to their efforts to prevent him from entering the gate well area.

“The team representative stated during the hearing that the team member informed him that he was not aware of the efforts of the marshals to stop him.

“However, the Stewards determine that any person affiliated to a team or other stakeholders should be aware that entering the track or hindering the safety measures to prepare the track for the race after the grid has been cleared is absolutely prohibited.

“Thus, irrespective of whether or not the instructions of the relevant officials have been realized by the person concerned, hindering or delaying the process of closing the gates before the race start must be considered as an unsafe act and therefore a significant penalty to the team is warranted.

“In order to prevent any reoccurrence, a portion of the financial penalty is suspended.”

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Speaking before the penalty was confirmed, team boss Laurent Mekies acknowledged the incident.

“We fully respect the stewards,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.

“It was felt that some time during the grid procedures, one of our guys had not followed the officials or some marshal instructions.

“We spoke with our people. They are very positive that they have followed marshal instructions at all times, so I think it’s probably a misunderstanding there.

“For sure, it’s something we can do better in the future, but certainly on our side, we do not feel that we have ignored any instruction – we did not get any specific instructions.”

The penalty comes after Max Verstappen dominated the United States Grand Prix to close to within 40 points of Oscar Piastri at the top of the Drivers’ Championship, while Red Bull is within striking distance of second in the Constructors’ competition.

Read more: McLaren’s conundrum: Will Max Verstappen capitalise on wilting Oscar Piastri?