During the Canadian Grand Prix, Formula 1 stewards discovered Racing Bulls breached an important technical regulation and imposed a major financial penalty on them.
The FIA has announced it will give Racing Bulls a fine of €30,000, with €20,000 of this amount suspended for 12 months due to what was described as a serious situation in relation to Racing Bull’s clutch disengagement system.
Liam Lawson’s Session Ended Early
The investigation began after Liam Lawson reported a problem with his car during practice before eventually stopping on the track.
Soon after, Racing Bulls came under investigation for allegedly violating Article C9.3 of Formula 1’s technical regulations.
What The FIA Rule States
The regulation states that: “All cars must be fitted with a means of disengaging the clutch for a minimum of 15 minutes in the event of the car coming to rest with the engine stopped”
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It also requires that “the system must remain in working order throughout the Competition even if the main hydraulic, pneumatic or electrical systems on the car have failed”.
FIA Labels The Racing Bulls Incident A “Serious Matter”
After hearing from the team, the stewards concluded that Racing Bulls’ CDS (Clutch Disengagement System) had failed to work correctly.
In an official statement, the stewards explained: “The team’s engineer explained how the CDS system worked. It was noted that the system on this car performs two roles – the one for which is it primarily intended, namely to release the clutch when the car is stopped and the engine is not working, and the other relates to the anti-stall system.”
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“In this case, a ruptured joint caused a hydraulic leak, which caused the car to stop. The CDS, when activated by the marshal, then failed to release the clutch and hence the car could not be moved. This is a serious matter.”
“It resulted in the session being red-flagged. Had the system worked as intended by the regulations, the incident could have been dealt with swiftly via deployment of the Virtual Safety Car.”
FIA Reveals Previous Concerns About The System
The FIA statement also revealed that Racing Bulls had previously been warned about the design of its CDS system.
According to them, “The Stewards note the concern of the FIA Technical Delegate, over the dual purpose of the CDS on this car. The Technical Delegate advised that the team had, in 2025, been warned about the CDS system design for its cars.”
The statement additionally mentioned concerns raised by Liam Lawson regarding the handling of the situation after the car stopped.
The FIA noted: “The Driver noted that there were two issues of concern that he wished to draw to the attention of the Stewards, namely that contrary to his instructions and common practice, the marshals attempted to push the car when it was stationary, and that the marshal who attempted to activate the CDS was trying to press a button on the on-board camera rather than the CDS button.”
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“This indicates to the Stewards that further training in this area is required, notwithstanding the fact that the FIA distributes a very clear document addressing this action. (ref ‘FIA Single Seater Recovery Specifications’).”
“We note that it is obvious that the distribution of such a document, although well detailed, probably needs supplementing with some form of practical training by the organisers.”
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