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| © Force India |
Force India received a warning after Sunday’s German Grand Prix after the team mixed up its tyre allocations among its drivers during the pit stops.
Adrian Sutil, who started from 19th due to his five-place grid penalty, made contact with teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi on the opening lap. This made the German’s prospects for a good result even worse driving in his home race.
“It was always our strategy that, if after the start I had not made up places, I would pit on the first lap to change to the prime tyres and make up positions when other cars stopped later on,” said Sutil after the race.
“It was a good plan as you have nothing to lose when you are that far down, but there was some confusion in the stop,” he added. “Tonio had radioed to say he was coming in for a front wing change and as we both arrived at the same time the tyre sets got mixed up and then I had to come in and pit again to get the correct set,” he explained.
The mix-up resulted in Liuzzi’s tyres being fitted on Sutil’s car and vice versa.
Section 25.3 (e) of the FIA regulations state, “The use of tyres without appropriate identification may result in a grid position penalty or exclusion from the race.”
Despite the ruling, the Silverstone-based outfit was let off the hook by the stewards and issued a reprimand instead.
Liuzzi finished 16th in the race whereas teammate Sutil finished behind him in 17th making it a disappointing weekend for the team.