The FIA has warned that teams will face punishment if they repeat Mercedes’ ‘dummy’ pit stop, as this practice is against the rules.
Mercedes sent their pit crew out into the pit lane during the British Grand Prix, but neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg came in for a stop. In fact it was another five laps before one of them did.
It was later confirmed by Toto Wolff that the team were trying to trick Williams – which led the race at the time – into making an early stop.
Speaking on Thursday, the FIA’s Charlie Whiting says that won’t be tolerated going forward.
“Going into the pit lane like this, ie for no valid reason, is not allowed but the difficulty would be proving it was a clear breach,” he explained.
“I will talk to all the teams – at the next race in Hungary – about this and warn them that we will want to see and hear evidence that they were actually intending to stop.”
The rules currently state: “Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete.”
