Portland E-Prix: All Formula E penalties at a glance

At the debut of Formula E at Portland International Raceway, the stewards of the FIA, the International Automobile Federation, will also be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Technical and Sporting Regulations. If a violation of the rules is discovered, it is up to them to determine penalties. In this article you will find, as usual, a list of all the decisions of the stewards.

At the Portland E-Prix, Loic Bacquelaine, Sydney Davis-Yagel and Achim Loth will take on this task. With Davis-Yagel belongs this time thus also a woman to the rulekeepers. They will be supported by ex-racing driver Pedro Lamy, who has a lot of experience in GT and endurance racing. Below you will find, as usual, a listing of all the decisions of the stewards.

Penalties in the shakedown

• Robin Frijns was fined 1,000 euros for using more than 350 kW of power in the shakedown. Formula E had exceptionally allowed drivers to draw maximum power from the battery for one lap.
• Roberto Merhi was also fined 1,000 euros for using more than 350 kW of power during the shakedown. Since the Spaniard, just like Frijns, drives a Mahindra-powered car, it is reasonable to conclude that this is a software issue with the Indian manufacturer's vehicles.
• Another fine of 1,000 euros was given to Daniel Ticktum because a mechanic had been working on his car when the lights on the roll bar indicated that the Nio 333 was in ready to move status. This is prohibited for safety reasons.
• Jake Hughes was also fined 1,000 euros because a mechanic had worked on his McLaren when the car was ready to move.
• The same happened to his team-mate Rene Rast: The German was also fined 1,000 euros because a mechanic had worked on the car while it was ready to move.

Penalties in free practice

• Jake Hughes received a reprimand because the tyres of his car had a tyre pressure of less than 1.20 bar, the minimum tyre pressure prescribed by tyre supplier Hankook.
• Nico Müller received a fine of 1,500 Euros because the battery on his car was overcharged. With a charge level of 92.2 per cent, the maximum value specified by battery manufacturer WAE was exceeded in practice.
• Stoffel Vandoorne was fined 1,000 Euros because a mechanic had worked on the car when the DS Penske was already in ready to move status.
• And here, too, his team-mate was affected: Jean-Eric Vergne also has to pay a fine of 1,000 euros because a mechanic had worked on the car when it was ready to move.
• DS Penske was fined 25,000 Euros, in addition Jean-Eric Vergne and Stoffel Vandoorne have to start the race from the pit lane. The team installed equipment in the pit lane that was able scan the barcodes of the tyres on all cars and thus collect data. The reason given by the race stewards: On the one hand, it is generally forbidden to install equipment in the pit lane, on the other hand, collecting data in this way provides the team with a lot of information, which is an unfair advantage. The document was later corrected: it was not a barcode scanner, but an RFID scanner that the team had installed in the pit lane entry. However, the facts and the penalty remained unchanged. We have published a separate article about this decision.

BREAKING: Jean-Eric Vergne & Stoffel Vandoorne have to start the #PortlandEPrix from the pit lane later today. The team installed equipment in the pit lane to scan the barcodes of the tyres of the other cars. In addition the team gets a fine of 25,000 Euros #FormulaE #ABBFormulaE pic.twitter.com/dan69wQ5PX

— Tobias Wirtz (@tobiw_apex) June 24, 2023

Penalties in qualifying

• Jaguar was fined 2,000 Euros for four of the team's mechanics not wearing the required helmets when they pushed Mitch Evans' car through the pit lane. The team said that they were late due to a repair on the car and therefore the mechanics forgot to put the helmets on.

Penalties in and after the race

• Nico Müller received a five-second time penalty for taking a shortcut in the chicane at the end of the start-finish straight without stopping in the run-off area, as was mandatory. However, this had no effect, as Müller retired due to an accident.
• Sam Bird also received a five-second time penalty for pushing Max Günther off the track. The Jaguar driver thus dropped from 7th to 17th position. Lucas di Grassi, Pascal Wehrlein, Norman Nato and Robin Frijns moved up in the points. Bird also received two penalty points on his race licence. He now stands at nine points. Should he collect another three points, he will be suspended for one race.