F1 teams angry at ’embarrassing’ FIA penalties in Austria

Formula One teams are livid at the slew of FIA penalties that changed the result of the Austrian Grand Prix five hours after it finished, multiple sources have told ESPN.

Twelve penalties were retrospectively applied by the FIA’s stewards for track-limits violations after the governing body was unable to keep up with the sheer volume of transgressions during the race itself.

While the penalties did not impact Max Verstappen’s race win or any the podium finishers, it completely altered the order of the remaining points positions.

Teams are understood to be very frustrated with how the scenario played out and how it made Formula One look. One team boss told ESPN the situation was “embarrassing” for the sport.

One team only discovered penalties had been applied when their Sunday night flight landed in the UK.

The shambolic post-race situation is likely to further escalate tensions between F1 and the FIA, which have been growing across recent seasons.

A key moment in the breakdown of that relationship came when a mistake by former FIA race director Michael Masi influenced the outcome of the 2021 championship.

F1 has grown increasingly frustrated that the application of penalties and race procedures in its own sport is handled by people working for another organisation.

The governing FIA employs an F1 race director, Niels Wittich, to oversee the running of grands prix, while a rotating panel of stewards adjudicate penalties on a race-by-race basis.

After the Masi controversy, the FIA introduced a facility in Geneva where it could monitor issues such as track-limits violations from a remote location. That system has been likened to VAR in football but the events of the Austrian GP will raise questions about how that system works and whether it is up to the task of monitoring a busy F1 race.

Track limits was an issue all week at the Red Bull Ring as drivers repeatedly drove beyond the white lines denoting the edge of the track and on to tarmac runoff areas.

Sergio Perez failed to make it through to Q3 in qualifying after having all three of his quickest Q2 times deleted for running wide at Turn 10.

Max Verstappen later said the amount of laps that were deleted made him and his fellow F1 drivers look like “amateurs”.

During Sunday’s race the FIA stewards policing the matter were overwhelmed by how many violations there were, with over 1,200 to process, 89 of which led to deleted laps.

The FIA has previously advised the Red Bull Ring to place gravel on the outside of Turns 9 and 10 but the circuit, a Moto GP host venue, has resisted doing so as it becomes a safety hazard for motorcycles.

The FIA made the same recommendation to the Spielberg circuit on Sunday evening.