“The team representative, Mr Shovlin, in evidence stated that he gave the instruction for the cars to be released, in error, having misinterpreted the message posted on page three of the timing screen, ‘estimated re-start time’, to be a message advising the actual re-start time,” read the panel’s decision document.
“He argued that there was no sporting advantage gained in this case as there was sufficient time remaining (11 minutes) for other teams to perform their run plans.
“It was also noted that the team’s Sporting Director, Mr [Ron] Meadows, was not present at the event and that normally he would be involved in the release process.
“The FIA Single Seater Sporting Director stated that such a move could be a sporting advantage in that it could enable a team to perform its run plan whereas other teams may not be able to.
“The stewards agree with this view particularly where there are only a few minutes remaining in the session.
