At the end of the Australian Grand Prix the stewards had a good deal of extra work. Not only drivers and teams: the organizers of the event itself also ended up under the magnifying glass of the 5 FIA delegates due to the violation of the FIA safety protocols and the safety measures imposed by the Federation itself.
The episode that triggered the commissioners’ investigation and the official statement in which they judged the promoters in violation of the safety measures is linked to the entry of some fans who invaded the track before the end of the 58 laps of the grand prix.
The promoters of the event, ie delegates from the Australian Grand Prix Corporation, were formally summoned by the stewards after today’s race, which will go down in history for the three red flags displayed.
Once Verstappen – winner of the race – crossed the finish line, race direction displayed a fourth red flag because “a large group of spectators managed to break through the safety lines and access the track while the race was still in progress “, according to what was explained by the FIA.
Nico Hulkenberg, Haas VF-23, parks the car after the race
Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images
The same fans managed to reach Nico Hulkenberg’s single-seater, which was stationary after crossing the finish line in seventh position. The most sobering aspect is that the German’s car still had flashing red lights. This meant that the VF-23 was far from being in safe mode, so it shouldn’t have been touched.
The panel of stewards considered that the organizers of the event were in breach of Article 12.2.1.h of the FIA International Sporting Code and requested the promoter to urgently submit to the FIA a formal plan to remedy the situation, making sure that what we saw today can no longer happen.
That’s not all, because they added: “The safety measures and protocols that were supposed to be in place for the event were not implemented, resulting in an unsafe environment for spectators, drivers and race marshals” .
The incident will also be reported to the World Motorsport Council for further investigation in order to determine whether it is not necessary to take further measures or apply sanctions other than demanding a remediation plan related to the incident.
The promoters of the Australian Grand Prix have admitted they made mistakes which led to failures and an unacceptable situation, which could have had disastrous consequences.
A similar thing had already happened in the lap of the 2017 edition. The FIA has announced that it will examine the incident to understand what went wrong in the procedures and will do so together with the regional police. The promoters of the event, however, have asked for until 30 June 2023 to conduct the investigation in question, but this will have to be approved by the FIA.
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