FIA confirm official curfew breach for McLaren F1 team at Bahrain Grand Prix

The FIA have confirmed that McLaren were found to have breached curfew at the Bahrain Grand Prix ahead of the first day of practice this weekend.

On Thursday night, members of the McLaren team who were associated with the operation of the car were in the confines of the Bahrain International Circuit during the FIA’s curfew period.

No action was taken on the breach, as it was the first of three individual exceptions permitted for each F1 team during the season, which means if the team breached the FIA's curfew on a further two occasions, they could be at risk of a penalty.

The action goes against Article 23.1 of the FIA’s sporting regulations, which states that at each event during the period beginning 29 hours before the first free practice session and ending two hours after the start of the race, each competitor may not have more than a total of 58 team personnel working on the car at the circuit.

Discussing the breach on Sky Sports F1 during FP1, the broadcasters revealed that McLaren had stated they spotted an issue that required investigation on one of their cars, but wouldn’t comment further on the issue.

What constitutes an F1 curfew breach?

Article 23.5a) also states that team personnel who are associated in any way with the operation of the cars are not permitted within the confines of the circuit during these restricted periods.

McLaren were found to be in the second restricted period which commenced 18 hours prior to the scheduled start of FP1, and ended four hours prior to the start of the first practice session.

During these periods, team personnel must not conduct operational activities. This includes and is not limited to work on the cars or car components necessary to operate the cars and engineers working on computers.

Team personnel whose roles include catering, media, marketing and/or loading or unloading (but not packing or unpacking) freight deliveries are exempt from these requirements, with the breach firmly associated with work on the car.

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