Formula One teams have been told they can no longer celebrate drivers’ victories on the pitwall in another barmy ruling by the FIA.
The sport’s governing body, who bungled the outcome of the last race in Saudi Arabia by taking four hours to award Fernando Alonso third place, have taken issue with teams climbing on the fencing, The Sun reports.
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The celebrations have long been part of the end of F1 races but stewards are clamping down.
It comes after they turned their attention to Lewis Hamilton’s nose stud and drivers wearing non-regulation underwear.
Ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, FIA race director Niels Wittich reminded F1 teams that climbing on the pitwall is not allowed.
In his pre-weekend event safety notes, he said “it is forbidden to climb on the pitwall debris fence at any time”.
The FIA’s International Sporting Code states: “The pit wall signalling platform should be forbidden to all except authorised officials or race team personnel, having a special pass.”
It adds: “It is forbidden for personnel to climb on pit wall debris fences at any time.
“Any action by a team breaching this ban will be reported to the stewards.”
Red Bull boss Christian Horner said he was “surprised” by the decision.
“I was surprised it was an issue, to be honest with you but I think anything that relates to safety, obviously, one has to take very seriously,” Horner said.
“But it’s a fairly iconic moment when you see a car finishing a Grand Prix and its team celebrating on a fence, and so long as it’s done in a manner that is safe… I personally have never seen an issue with it.
“I’ve thought it’s been a part of Grand Prix racing and we’ve achieved that 94 times as Red Bull Racing, and not once have we ever had an injury or looked like there being an issue.
“But you know, if they’re the rules they’re the rules.”
The decision went down like a lead balloon with racing fans online with many taking to social media to share their disappointment.
“Yes, let’s remove the passion and excitement from hard working teams all year round when their driver earns a podium or race win,” one fan wrote.
“Man, this is just sad,” wrote a second.
Another wrote: “This is just beyond ridiculous, it seems the FIA have ran out of things to ban.”
While a fourth wrote: “They are killing this sport!”
Meanwhile, the FIA have amended the rule book after Alonso’s Aston Martin team failed to observe a time penalty.
In Jeddah, the team placed a jack under his car and then waited five seconds before working on his car.
While Alonso was eventually cleared and allowed to keep third place, the rules now say it is illegal to place a jack under the car during such instances.
Instead, they have to wait for the time penalty to be served before doing anything, including putting a jack in position.
– This article originally appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission
