Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner demands curfew rules relaxation – Formula 1 news
Red Bull Racing’s team principal Christian Horner has demanded a relaxation in the Formula 1 team personnel curfew rules.
Horner announced this on Tuesday, September 27, 2011 when he clearly expressed his discontent with the current curfew regime and pleaded for some amendments in the same.
The curfew imposed by the International Automobile Federation, (FIA) reads as, “No team personnel who are associated in any way with the operation of the cars are permitted within the confines of the circuit.”
Therefore, all Formula 1 teams are required to refrain from indulging in any activities on their cars from midnight to 6am on a Friday and 1am to 7am on a Saturday.
For the Singapore race, due to the night race timetable, the curfew timings were a bit different – the period spanned from 9:30am to 4pm on Saturday, just three hours before the start of the final practice session.
Red Bull Racing, Mercedes GP and Virgin Racing Team were all accused by the FIA of breaching the curfew rules and regulations when their marketing personnel entered the Singapore track outside of the 4pm cut-off point on Saturday.
In an attempt to clarify, and to apprise the FIA with the reality of the matter, Horner and Mercedes GP principal Ross Brawn told said that the marketing personnel, who have nothing to do with the operations of the car, were only on the track during the
prohibited time to meet the guests.
“It is something that needs tidying up under the sporting regulations. It is clear what the regulations are trying to achieve, but it is impossible to be responsible for everybody that has a pass.” Horner said, while speaking to Autosport.com. “I cannot
quite see an objective in having a curfew for marketing staff. It is something that does need tidying up; I think it is just a misunderstanding.”
The issue was duly responded by the FIA and the matter was resolved between them and the three teams.
To make sure that both the FIA and teams are on the same page, Horner believed that the curfew clause by the FIA needed further amendment.
Let’s see how the FIA deals with this issue in the upcoming races.
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