Toto Wolff urges force majeure rule changes after ‘unfair’ penalty issued

Toto Wolff calls for changes to enforcement of force majeure rules after ‘unfair’ fines.

Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has called for a review of the force majeure rules after Carlos Sainz received an “unfair” penalty in Las Vegas.

Toto Wolff has called for a reconsideration of how force majeure events are handled following Carlos Sainz’s “unfair” penalty in Las Vegas. Just seven minutes into the first practice session at the new Las Vegas track in November, Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari crashed through a drain plug that had been absorbed by the impact on the ground.

Sainz had a difficult weekend after his car was damaged in a crash and escaped unscathed. Received a network penalty due to power supply damage requiring a new auxiliary battery. Toto Wolff: Carlos Sainz did not deserve the results as a driver.

Sainz was unsure about the penalty and the Spaniard expressed his disappointment at the penalty which ruled him out of contention for a podium or victory based on the speed of Charles Leclerc in another car.

The stewards said they did their best to avoid punishing Sainz as he and Ferrari were completely innocent of the incident that led to the side change request, but they could not turn a blind eye under the sport’s rules. . .

Toto Wolff believes that what happened to the Spaniard is completely unfair, as the administrators did not have the opportunity to exercise force majeure. “What happened to Carlos was completely unfair,” he told selected media outlets in Abu Dhabi, including PlanetF1.com.

“I’m talking about punishment. unjust.

“I would be the first to say that as a runner he didn’t deserve the results. I think we need to look at the rules. Force majeure is a complex issue. What happens during a board strike? You know the one where you hit a curb and wrecked your car? You can not do anything.

“What happens if you run on cold tires and send him into the wall like Lando did [in Las Vegas]?” Is it force majeure? Do people say force majeure?

“What if another car pulls you over and you don’t do anything? Is it force majeure? As an athlete, nobody likes this situation. It wasn’t fair to him and it ruined his race weekend so he could have won.

“So we need to take a closer look at it and think about how we can change it.”

Toto Wolf: As a team leader, you have to look at the entire business area.

After the penalty, Sainz criticized the actions of an unnamed rival team, which prompted the stewards to show leniency to Ferrari, while Mercedes denied they were a team. Wolff said his perspective changed when he thought about Sainz’s story in terms of his position in the sport, rather than as an athlete. Just like every team boss on the field.

“As a team principal of a rival team fighting for 2nd place, I have to look at the scope, the full scope and the rules of what we can do to finish 2nd in the championship,” he said . said. “If the rules say so, then I have to act in the interests of the team and the 2,500 people (the difference in bonuses between P2 and P3 will be very large) to act within the rules.

“Because it would be any driver if I lost the championship by five points because I showed fair sportsmanship and I could have punished the car according to the rules.

I have to do this. “Even though it’s unfair, any other team manager would do that. I asked, “Is it unfair to the other driver?” I have to decide.

“this. But I have 2,500 to pay for the mortgage and tuition, so it’s a no-brainer. I think sometimes it’s important to put yourself in someone else’s shoes. “I did that for Carlos and it was terrible. “I don’t know if the exercise went well,” he said.

Wolff outlined how the force majeure discussion is expected to continue to progress, but this is an important direction for the F1 committee to move forward. This provides an example of the additional complexity that needs to be considered when changing the rules. “I can tell you that the disqualification of our [Austin] council was much more than we expected and there was nothing we could have done to change that,” he said.

“It was a sprint weekend, it was a force majeure situation and we did all the measurements that showed the bump was higher than expected. “But for me, those things are out of my control. It’s unfair to me that hitting a slide and breaking a rule while walking on the sidewalk is hitting a bird, but I haven’t found a rule that covers these things. “I think it’s completely unfair for a driver to hit a drain plug and destroy their car.”