Official: Vergne penalized by 10 places after losing his wheel
Due to a poorly secured wheel during Free Practice 2, Jean-Eric Vergne and Toro Rosso were penalized by the stewards of the 2014 Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1.
Just like Daniel Ricciardo after his botched pit stop in Bahrain, Jean-Eric Vergne will receive a ten-place grid penalty for the next Grand Prix, which will take place on Sunday at the Barcelona circuit, after Toro Rosso released the Frenchman without ensuring that his right rear wheel, which came off in turn 1, was properly secured.
Laurent Mékiès, the performance director of the small Scuderia, stated following this incident: « Unfortunately, we had an issue with JEV’s stop at the end of his long stint, when he lost a wheel as soon as he left the pit lane, but fortunately no one was injured. We need to understand exactly what went wrong and ensure we can fix it for tomorrow. »
In addition, the Italian team receives a fine of 30,000 euros.
