Formula 1 News - April 2005
Toyota

24 April: Ralf Schumacher penalised for pitstop incident. Jenson Button escapes punishment for underweight car.

Two cars were investigated following the San Marino Grand Prix. Ralf Schumacher had 25 seconds added to his finish time. According to the stewards, his team released him from his second pitstop before it was safe to do so. This forced Nick Heidfeld to brake hard to avoid hitting Ralf.

The penalty puts Ralf in 11th place while Nick Heidfeld moves into 8th place.

The Toyota team decided to appeal the decision, team principal Tsutomu Tomita said: "In view of the extremely vague description of the regulation and a number of similar incidents which have gone unpunished, Toyota has decided to appeal the decision of the stewards in order to clarify this issue for the future." 

related:
Toyota's statement
Dates set for appeal
Toyota appeal withdrawn

Jenson Button escaped punishment after the stewards decided to take no further action despite his car being found to be underweight following the race.

A statement by the race stewards read "It (Button's car) was subsequently drained of fuel and then re-weighed and found to be underweight.
The stewards after hearing the explanation of the competitor's representatives and studying all the available documentation decided that the matter requires no further action."

UPDATE: The FIA decides to appeal against the Stewards decision .... more

related:
Dates set for appeal

2005 San Marino Grand Prix - Main Page

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