Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsFIA

FIA to warn teams over dummy pit stops

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The FIA will warn teams over dummy pit stops at the next race in Hungary after Mercedes' attempts to fool Williams in the British Grand Prix.

Mercedes sent its pit crew out in to the pit lane to try and force Williams in to an early stop, but with neither Williams driver reacting the pit crew were withdrawn. The regulations prevent teams from having personnel in the pit lane other than immediately before working on the car, and FIA race director Charlie Whiting has told the BBC he will be raising the issue in Budapest.

"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," Whiting said. "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."

Whiting says the Mercedes move appeared to be genuine preparations for a stop at the time, but has noted Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's admission it was a "bit of a game" designed to trick Williams.

"At the time, what Mercedes did was OK as no-one knew that they were not actually going to stop. In fact we still don't really know.

"However, in view of the fact that they were alleged to have said that it was a 'dummy' stop, they may have put their foot in it rather."

Click here for a lighter look back at some scenes from the British Grand Prix

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.