The busy stewards in Azerbaijan have declared that no further action is warranted over the illegal use of the Drag Reduction System by Sergio Pérez, Lance Stroll and Kevin Magnussen on Sunday.
Many drivers endured problems with DRS throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with many being forced to fall back on manually activating the device, particularly down the back straight of the Baku Street Circuit, but none of the three drivers found to have used it illegally were penalised.
The stewards deemed that their teams – Sahara Force India F1 Team, Williams Martini Racing and Haas F1 Team respectively – all recognised the problem quickly, and as no places were gained by its use, it was not necessary to issue penalties to any of the drivers involved.
“It is apparent that to move to the “default” setting if the DRS system malfunctions, requires the team to convey to the driver, by radio, a series of steps to adjust various settings,” read the trio of statements from the stewards.
“In this case, the DRS light came on and as this was the first time the driver had experienced a default operation for the DRS, there was some misunderstanding of the procedure and the driver incorrectly activated the system manually. The system however, was only activated twice, each time for a short distance before the driver and team recognised the error.
“The Stewards are satisfied that no car was overtaken through this incorrect use.”
