The struggling HRT team seems to have invented a new way of being fined. Not the usual “speeding in pit lane” or the head-scratching “unsafe release”, no the team has devised a new way to gain the ire of the FIA and race control.
It seems a sure-fire way to get a $5,000 fine is to release your car with a tire warmer still on one of the tires. I know there is not a lot of grip on the new Korean track but leaving tire warmers on isn’t a going to help. Now I know times are tough at HRT and money is tight but how does that happen? You don’t have to be rich to pick up your yard and you, equally, don’t have to be a team with millions to release a car that is ready for the track.
As it is, the team released two personnel into the pit exit to retrieve the tire warmer and that this is a breach of the sporting regulation. The episode is yet another milestone of the difficulties this team has faced all year and while I do like the players, personnel and drivers…it’s getting a bit dog-eared folks.