Racing Bulls have been fined after the CDS (Clutch Disengagement System) on Liam Lawson's stranded car failed to work.

The team's engineer explained to the stewards how the CDS system works, and it was noted that the system on the 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.

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," declared the stewards. "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."

The stewards noted 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.

Lawson 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. This indicated 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"). They noted 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.

The Faenza outfit was fined €30,000, €20,000 of which is suspended for a period of 12 months subject to no further breach of this regulation by the competitor, for either of its cars.

Elsewhere, Ferrari was fined €1000 after Charles Leclerc exceeded the pit lane speed limit, which is set at 80 km/h for this event, by 16.3 km/h.

Finally, the timing data showed that Esteban Ocon crossed the pit lane line 1.11 seconds after the end of the session. However video evidence showed it is almost certain that the driver could not have seen the light change from green to red due to his close proximity to the line at the pit exit.

Therefore although a breach of regulation was committed, in view of the mitigating circumstances of the driver being unable to see the red light, no penalty was applied.

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