Ted Kravitz admitted he had got his understanding of a new Formula 1 rule wrong when he suggested Red Bull mechanics had violated it.
Sergio Perez won the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and, as is customary, mechanics and other staff from his side of the Red Bull garage ran across the pit lane to be there celebrating as he came roaring past to tack the chequered flag.
But as he watched that happen while reporting live on the Sky Sports coverage of the race, Kravitz referenced a new rule which has recently been introduced which outlaws team members from climbing on the debris fence to celebrate.
"It is forbidden for personnel to climb on pit wall debris fences at any time. Any action by a team breaching this ban will be reported to the stewards," is the wording of the rule. But team principal Christian Horner insisted after the race that his staff had been in full compliance.
"The regulations I think are quite clear and it was something the team manager discussed with the mechanics before the race," he explained. "All of them had their feet in contact with the concrete wall. I think you'll find they were where they should be."
Speaking after the race on his Ted's Notebook programme, Kravitz addressed his earlier reporting of the incident as he admitted he had got it wrong. "Apparently, they are allowed to go onto the pit wall," he said.
"So there was not an investigation needed, or that will happen. The mechanics, they're not allowed to climb the fence but as long as they have a foot, said Christian Horner, on that bit of concrete, then the mechanics can be on the pit wall.
"I've double-checked that with the FIA and with other teams, and that's what they believe the rules to be." And there was not investigation into the actions of the Red Bull staff, though the stewards did look into another incident in the pit lane at the end of the race as a group of photographers were allowed into parc ferme before the Grand Prix had concluded.
That is not unusual but, in this case, Esteban Ocon had not yet stopped for a tyre change and came in on the last lap. Several people had to leap out of the way of the Alpine as it came into the pit lane and, after a meeting in the steward' room, the FIA said it "regretted" the incident and vowed to review its parc ferme procedure before the Miami race next weekend.
