F1 News: FIA Insists It's Impossible To Scrutinize Every Car After Austin GP Controversy

The FIA has given a statement saying that it is impossible to check every component of every F1 car in scrutineering after a controversy erupted following Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc's disqualification as their cars were found to have excessive skid block wear in COTA, more than the permitted limit.

While both Mercedes and Ferrari accepted that their cars violated the rules, questions were raised about whether it was fair on the FIA's part to not further scrutinize other cars with there being high chances of more violations. The governing authority also checked Max Verstappen's RB19 and Lando Norris's MCL60, but the plank wear on their cars was found to be within the allowed limit.

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Former F1 driver and Sky F1 Pundit Martin Brundle pointed out in his column that other cars should have been checked considering the 50% fail rate. He wrote:

“After the race four cars were checked, including Verstappen's Red Bull and Norris' McLaren, and both Hamilton's Mercedes and Leclerc's Ferrari were found to have too much wear, for which the only remedy is disqualification, however minimal the indiscretion. There can be no grey area on this.

"The next big question however is that if 50 per cent of the tested cars failed, then shouldn't all the finishers have been checked? The answer must surely be yes.”

Taking all kinds of feedback into account, the FIA explained that it is practically impossible to check every detail on every car of each classified finisher within the time that is available to them.

It goes on to defend the long-standing protocol that has been in place of randomly checking various parts from cars because teams never know what components are going to be scrutinized after each race. That way, they won't be encouraged to risk breaking the rules.

The FIA's Stance On The Matter

Specifying the scrutineering process in detail, the FIA said that the element of 'randomness' is good enough to ensure the teams comply with the rules. It stated:

“This means that, from their perspective, any part of the car could be checked at any time, and the consequences for non-compliance with the technical regulations can be severe.

"The FIA’s F1 technical team has a wealth of experience, as well as data from a plethora of sources and sensors that help inform decisions on what aspects of compliance might be checked.

"The vast majority of the time, all cars are found to be compliant. However, as happened in Austin, breaches of the rules are occasionally found and reported to the Stewards, who decide the appropriate action to take.”

Apart from that, the governing body also stated that the element of practicality needs to be considered when it comes to checking each car because there is always a limit in time when checking them after the qualifying and the Grand Prix. It added:

“In conducting these tests, a huge amount of work goes on in the limited time available after a grand prix finishes and before the cars need to be returned to their teams for disassembly and transportation to the next race.

"However, even though a wide array of checks are made, it is impossible to cover every parameter of every car in the short time available – and this is especially true of back-to-back race weekends when freight deadlines must also be considered.

"This is why the process of randomly selecting a number of cars for post-race scrutineering across various aspects of the regulations is so valuable. Each team is aware that selection is possible and understand that the chance of any lack of compliance being uncovered is strong."

In addition, the FIA also stated that at each event, a single car is picked for more extensive tests which go a lot deeper than the usual post-race scrutineering. Concluding its note, it said:

“These ‘deep dives’ are invasive and often require the disassembly of significant components that are not regularly checked due to the time it takes to carry out the procedure.

"This process involves comparing the physical components with CAD files the teams are required to supply to the FIA, as well as verification of team data that is constantly monitored by the FIA’s software engineers.”