A fats penalty shook the Formulation E paddock on the race premiere in Portland and triggered enormous discussions. The highest workforce DS Penske acquired a superb of 25,000 euros on Saturday. As well as, the 2 drivers, reigning world champion Stoffel Vandoorne and two-time champion Jean-Eric Vergne, got a race begin from the pit lane.
In determination quantity 12, which was revealed on Saturday morning throughout qualifying and which referred to an incident earlier than apply 2, the stewards selected drastic phrases. The official doc spoke of a “vital and unfair benefit”, in keeping with which the penalty imposed was applicable. Vergne and Vandoorne had been nonetheless allowed to participate in qualifying, however weren’t capable of maintain their grid positions six (Vergne) and ten (Vandoorne).
DS Penske violated regulations in four cases
According to the stewards, DS Penske had violated two articles of the Sporting Regulations and one article each of the Technical Regulations and the International Sporting Code. The French factory team, which joined forces with Jay Penske’s former Dragon/Penske team this season, had installed “RFID scanning devices at the pit lane entrance, which were able to collect real-time data from all cars,” according to the stewards scanned the barcodes on the tires”.
The original stewards’ decision initially stated that DS Penske had collected the data from all vehicles “regarding the tyres”. This half-set was dropped in a revised version, leading to the conclusion that the team was able to collect live data from the complete cars of the competition. That would actually be tantamount to a huge data scandal the likes of which has never happened in the history of Formula E.
The installation of an RFID scanner – the abbreviation stands for ‘Radio Frequency Identification’ or radio identification for the wireless transmission of measured values - is prohibited by regulations in several instances. No equipment may remain in the pit lane or fast lane (Article 23.11), competitors may not install any equipment in the pit lane (Article 30.25), any telemetry is prohibited (Article 8.9) and any violation of the rule of fairness is prohibited (Article 12.2.1 .l).
What data did DS Penske really collect?
In the competition from DS Penske, the penalty imposed was a big topic of conversation – but only behind closed doors. Namely, initially no team leader or managerial staff wanted to ask Motorsport-Magazin.com quote. “The punishment is too light”, “We feel fooled”, or “That’s nothing new with this team”, we heard from different places in Portland.
There was also a lively discussion as to which data the DS Penske team could have actually collected. A team boss did not believe that it was really possible to access live data from the competition. “They’ve now received a yellow card. That’s the end of the matter for us,” said a team manager with experience in Formula E Motorsport-Magazin.com.
A data expert from a service provider, who did not want to be named, explained opposite Motorsport-Magazin.comthat it is virtually impossible to generate data from opposing cars that goes beyond the mere information on which set of tires a car drives out of the pit lane with.
Vergne shocked by Steward’s verdict
After the Portland race, the two-time champion Vergne showed up in conversation Motorsport-Magazin.com indignant about the concrete wording in the verdict of the sports commissioners. “The interpretation of what we really did shock me,” said the Frenchman. “As it was written, we would have had access to every other team’s live data. We would have had access to some really great hackers to get all that data! The truth, however, is very simple. We had a machine that was handy reads the tire numbers to tell us which driver is using which tire – first set or second set. Everyone else does that too.”
In fact, we found in the Portland paddock that other teams use different methods to find out which set of Hankook all-weather tires is currently mounted on a car. Two sets are available for each vehicle in a single race per rule book. The information about which set is currently being used provides important information about the condition of the tires in the respective session. Some teams or manufacturers hire special photographers to take pictures of the competition’s tires or data monitors in the pits.
Vergne continues: “Everyone has been doing this in Formula E for ages. We just had a system that’s better than photos. It was nothing more than that. We never had access to live data of tire pressures, temperatures or engine data. That is Impossible! I’m shocked, annoyed and angry that it was written that way. It wasn’t the case. I don’t understand it.”
Vergne: Treated like the biggest scammers…
Vergne admitted that DS Penske broke the rules by installing a measuring device in the pit lane: “Okay, if we get a penalty for that. But to be treated like the biggest scammers… Our fans and sponsors read the news and understand not exactly what happened. It’s not good. I’m not the team boss. But the team is my family and to be treated like that for something that’s wrong is amazing.”
Where was team boss Jay Penske?
Motorsport-Magazin.com asked the DS Penske team for an official statement immediately after qualifying. A concrete answer was not available until Saturday evening local time.
Remarkably, DS Penske’s official team boss – Jay Penske – stayed away from his team’s home race of all times. He could probably have provided immediate clarification from the team’s point of view. How did that go down with Jean-Marc Finot, the motorsport vice president of the large Stellantis group, which also owns DS Automobiles, who was present in Portland?
Jay Penske’s absence for unknown reasons also caused irritation among certain team members on site. Not least because Michael Andretti, the son of Formula 1 legend Mario, supported his Andretti-Porsche team at the racetrack for the entire weekend.
A statement by Eugenio Franzetti, DS’s performance director, in the official press release gave little information and seemed to miss the point: “Unfortunately, the team was penalized for the presence of equipment in the pit lane with which the codes on the tires were scanned. Obviously this has no impact on the performance of the powertrain and the car, but the consequence was that we had to start the race from the pit lane.”
A Penske Autosport press release sent out late Saturday night local time said: “This equipment was used to collect information strictly limited to the tire serial number. This information is available and is typically collected by teams with a simple camera. This information has no impact on the performance of our cars.”
One of the highest penalties in Formula E
By the way: In the race, Vergne and team-mate Vandoorne managed to catch up from the pit lane with positions eleven and twelve, but they missed out on the points. Vergne, fifth in the championship with still manageable chances for the title, was in the top 5 for a while, but had to expend too much energy and was later thrown back by a radiator clogged with grass.
The fine imposed on DS Penske (€25,000 plus starting from the pit lane) is one of the highest in the history of Formula E. In the 2018 season, Techeetah-Renault – later DS Techeetah and today DS Penske – even received a fine of €30,000 Euro because Vergne and ex-teammate Andre Lotterer didn’t buckle up correctly in Santiago de Chile and thus gained a time advantage.
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Revealed : 2023-06-25 05:06:00
