F1 star punished with strange Japanese GP penalty minutes before Suzuka race
The Formula 1 stewards rubbed salt in Logan Sargeant's wounds with a double penalty shortly before the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.
The American crashed at the start of qualifying on Saturday. Not only did it mean he was due to start from the back of the grid, but it left his Williams team with a significant repair job ahead of the main event.
They managed to get it done in time. A chassis change was among a range of alterations made to make sure the car was ready to line up on the grid.
But his hopes of recovering in the race have taken a blow after the stewards got involved. The FIA's technical delegate discovered that the team had built up more than just the survival cell which the regulations allow, and took a dim view.
As a result, Sargeant was told to start from the pit lane. To make matters worse, he was also given a 10-second time penalty before his race had even begun, further denting his hopes of climbing up the order.
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An official document from the stewards read: "The relevant chassis was assembled to more than an assembly comprising a survival cell as defined in Article 27.2 of the Formula 1 sporting regulations and therefore has to be considered as a third car available to the competitor.
"In his further report document 29, the technical delegate explained that during parc fermé parts of different specifications from the ones originally used during Q1 were fitted. After hearing from the competitor, the technical delegate and the single seater director, the stewards came to the conclusion that during qualifying, the Williams Racing car number 02 suffered an accident where Chassis 01 got damaged beyond repair.
"Following the qualifying session, Chassis 03 was then assembled to a level exceeding that defined in Article 27.2 of the sporting regulations, which defines the state of assembly for a chassis to be considered to be a car. The Williams Racing team was therefore found to be in breach of Article 27.1 of the Sporting Regulations, which states that each competitor may not have more than two cars available at any time during a competition.
"Furthermore it should be noted that the available working time during parc fermé for the assembly of a complete car is limited, and hence in case of severe accident, this may jeopardise the participation of a car in the race. It is also noted that car 2 has been subjected to a change of specification, and therefore, under Article 40.9 is due to start the race from the pit lane in any case for a different offence.
"According to TD 021/Issue G dated on 22/08/23 the minimum penalty for an offence will be a start from the pit lane. In addition to this, a further penalty may be imposed by the stewards. As a start from pit lane is already imposed for the modification of parts, a further penalty for having a third chassis available was appropriate."
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