The large number of slow-moving tower violations at Barcelona means the stewards are likely to toughen their stance, according to a report.
As reported by the race18 drivers created a total of 55 cases of not meeting the delta time set for Spanish Grand Prix qualifying of 1min 31sec, a decision in the name of safety to avoid slow cars which can also create danger like making it easier to identify offenders.
Starting with the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, the regulations had been extended to cover “all laps” during qualifying, as prior to 2022 it only concerned laps in progress during and after the end of qualifying, as well as the laps on the grid before a start of the race.
The marshals are said to have confirmed that “the majority of cases were the result of drivers following another driver who was also on the lap and as each driver tried to create a gap with the previous driver, they successively went slower until ‘a “train” of pilots exceeded time”.
As this was only the third race since this change in application of the delta time application, no penalties were issued – although two drivers in particular came to the attention of the stewards.
Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Mick Schumacher both clashed with the stewards after qualifying, receiving a warning for “unnecessarily slow driving”.
The Race says stewards targeted Haas drivers because team garages were closest to pit exit, identifying they started chain of infringements when their position means they can act to prevent this from happening.
“Generally the cars that did not follow the race director’s event note followed these two cars,” the stewards reportedly confirmed.
“Further violations may result in increased penalties, not only for those drivers, but for any competitor who commits a similar violation in the future.”
Max Verstappen scored a hat-trick of wins as he took the checkered flag at the Spanish Grand Prix, with Sergio Perez following him across the line to make it a Red Bull one-two.
The result saw Verstappen take over as leader of the Drivers Championshipthe same for Red Bull among manufacturers.