Racing Bulls issued significant fine for 'serious' rule breach

Racing Bulls has been issued a €30,000 fine, €20,000 of which is suspended for 12 months, after being found guilty of a rule breach in Canada.

Liam Lawson's practice session came to a premature end as he reported an issue with the car before grinding to a halt.

However, it soon emerged that the team was being looked into for allegedly being in breach of Article C9.3 of the technical regulations.

It states that “all cars must be fitted with a means of disengaging the clutch for a minimum of 15 minutes in the event of the car coming to rest with the engine stopped” and that this must be “in working order throughout the Competition even if the main hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical systems on the car have failed”.

The stewards heard from the team after practice when it emerged that its CDS (Clutch Disengagement System) did not work and deduced that it should not go unpunished, labelling it a “serious matter”.

In a statement, the stewards outlined: “The team’s engineer explained how the CDS system worked. It was noted that the system on this car performs two roles – the one for which is it primarily intended, namely to release the clutch when the car is stopped and the engine is not working, and the other relates to the anti-stall system. 

“In this case, a ruptured joint caused a hydraulic leak, which caused the car to stop. The CDS, when activated by the marshal, then failed to release the clutch and hence the car could not be moved. This is a serious matter. 

“It resulted in the session being red-flagged. Had the system worked as intended by the regulations, the incident could have been dealt with swiftly via deployment of the Virtual Safety Car.”

The statement also revealed that Racing Bulls had previously been spoken to about the design of its CDS.

“The Stewards note the concern of the FIA Technical Delegate, over the dual purpose of the CDS on this car. The Technical Delegate advised that the team had, in 2025, been warned about the CDS system design for its cars. 

“The Driver noted that there were two issues of concern that he wished to draw to the attention of the Stewards, namely that contrary to his instructions and common practice, the marshals attempted to push the car when it was stationary, and that the marshal who attempted to activate the CDS was trying to press a button on the on-board camera rather than the CDS button. 

“This indicates to the Stewards that further training in this area is required, notwithstanding the fact that the FIA distributes a very clear document addressing this action. (ref “FIA Single Seater Recovery Specifications”). 

“We note that it is obvious that the distribution of such a document, although well detailed, probably needs supplementing with some form of practical training by the organisers.”