Logan Sargeant will have to serve a 10-second time penalty at the 2023 Japanese GP, after his Williams team failed to adhere to the FIA’s rules regarding the build of a third car following the American’s hefty crash in qualifying.
Photo Credits: Williams Racing
Sargeant was already due to start from the pit lane after the team changed the specification on some of the components that had to be replaced in his FW45 following his shunt at the exit of the final corner, and now will have to serve a 10-second time penalty in his first pit stop of the race, the stewards have decided.
The team was under investigation for building most of the spare chassis ahead of the permitted time in accordance to article 27.2 of the Sporting Regulations, which states how much of a chassis has to be assembled to be considered a car – with the Grove squad thus in breach of article 27.1, which defines that a team must not have more than two cars built up at any one time.
The full decision from the stewards also noted that the matter should be further discussed in the next Sporting Advisory Committee:
“The Technical Delegate reported to the Stewards (document 28) that the competitor worked on the car two hours after the chequered flag. The report mentioned that the relevant chassis was assembled to more than an assembly comprising a survival cell as defined in Article 27.2 of the Formula One Sporting Regulations and therefore has to be considered as a third car available to the competitor.
“In his further report in document 29, the Techical 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 qualifiying (O1), the Willams 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 definesthe 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.”
The decision noted that given Sargeant was already due to start from the pits due to a different infringement, a further penalty will be imposed, in the form of a 10-second time penalty to be served during the race:
“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. The Stewards recommend that this issue gets discussed again in the Sporting Advisory Committee.”
