Cadillac has been fined after Colton Herta breached technical rules when his car stopped on track during Free Practice 1 at the Italian Grand Prix. F1 stewards imposed a i30,000 fine, with i25,000 suspended.
Herta, deputising for Sergio Perez in his third FP1 outing of the season, stopped exiting the second Lesmo corner with around 40 minutes remaining. Although he halted by a marshal's post, the session was upgraded from virtual safety car to red flag because the MAC-26 could not be moved with the clutch still engaged.
The team described the problem as a hydraulics issue. This incident brought Herta before the stewards for an alleged breach of Article C9.3 of the technical regulations, which mandates that all cars must have a means of disengaging the clutch for a minimum of 15 minutes, even if main systems fail.
Third-Party Part Failure and Its Impact
In a hearing delayed until Saturday morning to allow the team more time to gather data, the stewards found that a third-party part failure caused the issue. The clutch disengagement system (CDS) was designed to operate independently, but its operation relied on a lithium battery from an external supplier.
The team demonstrated that one of four cells in the battery had failed, rendering the CDS inoperable. Consequently, the car could not be easily pushed from the circuit, prompting the red flag. Cadillac pledged to obtain battery life information from the supplier and implement routine checks to minimize future risks.
Strict Warning to All Teams
The stewards noted this is the third CDS failure of the season, following similar incidents involving Racing Bulls in Canada and McLaren in Monaco. Although only a financial penalty was imposed this time, they stressed that future breaches could incur sporting sanctions.
“Because the CDS is a critical component designed to facilitate the safe and quick removal of a car from the circuit, future failures may incur not only monetary penalties but sporting penalties as well,” the stewards stated. This warning signals that the FIA is tightening oversight on safety aspects that impact race proceedings.
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