Ferrari mess in the return of tire sets: 10 thousand euros fine

Update 19:45 – As expected, the stewards have decided to fine Ferrari for the double infringement committed in FP1 during the tyre return procedure. The penalty, as we anticipated, mirrors the one imposed on Haas in Hungary in 2023: two fines of 5000 Euros each were issued to the Maranello team, for a total of 10,000 euros to be paid to the FIA treasury.

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Below are the two official statements regarding the decisions on Leclerc and Hamilton:

Technical error

There is a small mystery concerning Ferrari that erupted at the end of the second free practice session in Belgium. With a document published at 18:21, the FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer reported to the stewards a possible infringement committed by the Maranello team in the return of the tyres used by Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton during the FP1 session.

The document states: “Following FP1, the Scuderia Ferrari HP team electronically returned two sets of dry tyres (sets 16-301 and 16-401) for Car 16 (LEC) in accordance with Articles B6.4.1 and B6.3.8 a) iii). However, the respective tyres were not physically returned to the Designated Tyre Supplier before the start of FP2. This constitutes a non-compliance with Article B6.4.2“.

A similar communication concerns the other red car: “Following FP1, the Scuderia Ferrari HP team electronically returned two sets of dry tyres (sets 44-301 and 44-401) for Car 44 (HAM) in accordance with Articles B6.4.1 and B6.3.8 a) iii). However, the respective tyres were not physically returned to the Designated Tyre Supplier before the start of FP2. This constitutes a non-compliance with Article B6.4.2“.

Precedents

This infringement committed by Ferrari is unusual but not completely without precedent in recent F1 history. Something similar happened to Williams during the 2022 Hungarian GP weekend and to Haas also during the Hungarian GP weekend but in 2023. Williams received a 1000 Euro penalty, while Haas was fined 5000 Euros, possibly due to a tightening of regulations by the federation from one year to the next. In the case of the American team, however, the infringement was double and thus the total fine rose to 10,000 Euros.

It can therefore be assumed that also in this case Ferrari might get away with a ‘simple’ fine, the amount of which will have to be determined by the stewards based on any mitigating circumstances and justifications that the Scuderia may provide.

Going much further back in time, even to 2016, there is a precedent that could shake Maranello: in that year’s German GP Nico Hulkenberg (then driving for Force India) was penalized one grid position for the race at Hockenheim for mistakenly using a set of tyres in qualifying that the team should have returned to the FIA after FP3. In that case, the German driver lost seventh place, dropping to eighth, benefiting Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. However, in that case the infringement was committed in qualifying and thus the federation’s ‘heavy hand’ is more understandable.

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