Keeping an open eye

The checking doesn’t stop just because scrutineering has been completed. Random tests occur throughout the weekend. Fuel samples may be taken at any time, and if the fuel doesn’t match the chemical fingerprint submitted by the team at the beginning of the weekend it’s deemed illegal. Weight checks are also commonplace to ensure that the cars (including driver) aren’t below the regulation 605kg. A strict eye is kept on the teams’ use of their allocated tyres to ensure they don’t use more than the regulation 12 sets throughout the race weekend.

Occasionally, the FIA seals a team’s engine. Sealing an engine involves putting a tamper-proof seal on it that would break if any attempt were made to change or modify it. A technical inspector (similar to a scrutineer, but technical inspectors travel and do much a more detailed analysis of the cars than can be done at a race meeting) will then usually visit the factory where the engine is held, strip it down, and inspect it for compliance – in particular whether it is within the maximum capacity of 3 litres. The FIA can seal an engine at any time and they don’t reveal why they’ve sealed an engine. One can only speculate.

Once the cars have finished qualifying, they are kept in parc ferme (an area where the cars are held under supervision to ensure they cannot be worked on by the teams) overnight and held there until shortly before the race is due to start. No work other than minor matters such as checking of tyre pressures can be carried out on the cars prior to the race. Anything else the team may want to work on requires the permission of the appropriate FIA representative.