Lawson disqualified from F1 qualifying in Mexico – here's why
by Ronald Vording · AutosportLawson has been excluded from the qualifying results due to a technical infringement. It concerns the MGU-K rampdown rate after he completed his fastest lap in Q2
Liam Lawson has lost his ninth-place starting position for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Racing Bulls impressed at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Saturday and managed to get both cars into Q3. The team subsequently emerged as the 'best of the rest' in eighth and ninth places, but Lawson now faces a recovery drive on Sunday.
The New Zealander has been disqualified by the FIA for a technical infringement. The summons document had already stated that “Lawson was in breach of the minimum MGU-K power requirement just after crossing the line on his fastest lap in Q2 at 15:47:36.”
Following a visit to the stewards, the outcome was the same as for almost all technical infringements: disqualification. In practice, Lawson did not follow the prescribed procedures immediately after completing his fastest Q2 lap, meaning he failed to comply with the mandatory MGU-K rampdown rate.
The FIA clarified that Lawson ran out of battery power at the end of his flying lap, causing his MGU-K deployment to drop off completely and the MGU-K power output to fall from 350kW to zero instantly. This is in breach of the technical regulations.
Instead, that electrical power must be reduced gradually in accordance with Article C5.12.6 of the technical regulations. It stipulates maximum reductions of either 50 or 100kW per second:
“The driver maximum power demand must not be reduced at any greater than the rates defined below whilst the electrical DC power of the ERS-K is above 100kW:
a. 50kW in any 1s period at Competitions where the FIA determines that the power limited distance exceeds 3500m. The vehicle fundamentals used for the calculation of the power limited distance may be found in the document FIA-F1-DOC-034.
b. 100kW in any 1s period at all other Competitions.”
In Lawson's case, the reduction in electrical power was far steeper after he crossed the line without immediately lifting off the throttle, as also described in the stewards' report:
“Evidence submitted, which was accepted by all parties present, showed that after the control line at the end of his fastest lap in Q2, the driver did not lift off the power immediately. This resulted in the rate of reduction of MGU-K deployment required to achieve the regulated “step down”, not being achieved.”
The summons document further clarified this breach as follows: “The driver maximum power demand and the electrical DC power of the ERS-K were reduced at greater rates than what is permitted by the Regulations.”
During the hearing, all parties concluded that Racing Bulls had gained no sporting advantage from the infringement, although that finding was not enough to prevent the disqualification. Technical infringements are, after all, always black and white.
“The team argued that this did not provide any performance advantage however it is clear that non-compliance with the Technical Regulations is not excused if no performance advantage is gained. Further, these regulations require that a car must comply with them at all times during an event.
“The Stewards note in particular that the team self-disclosed the breach however there are a multitude of precedents that require us, despite all mitigating circumstances, to impose a penalty of Disqualfication where a car does not comply with the Technical Regulations.”
The rampdown rate is a particularly sensitive issue, as the FIA intervened earlier this year to clamp down on alleged qualifying tricks employed by Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Red Bull. Those teams had also found ways to circumvent the maximum rampdown rate, although in their cases it was deliberate. As teams had been warned several times, the FIA said it had no other choice.
It means Lawson will have to start from the very back of the grid on Sunday and faces a fight through the field. The disqualification is good news for Alpine, with one of its rivals for fifth place in the constructors' championship now forced to start from the back. In the standings, however, Racing Bulls still holds a comfortable 33-point advantage.
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- The Autosport.com Team
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