Force India were fined 15,000 euros (USD 17,000) and handed a suspended additional fine of 85,000 euros at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.
The Force India team were fined 15,000 euros (USD 17,000) and handed a suspended additional fine of 85,000 euros at the French Grand Prix on Saturday.
The fines were announced by the International Motoring Federation (FIA), after an investigation into how a wheel flew off Mexican Sergio Perez's car during Friday's second free practice session.
A report by the race stewards it was a "very serious and potentially dangerous" situation. They blamed it on "an assembly fault involving poor seating of three retaining screws".
The stewards added that it was the third similar incident in the last two years, which led to a stronger penalty.
"This fine represents the view of the stewards that the team needs to investigate its assembly and quality control procedures to ensure this type of potentially dangerous incident does not occur again and believes the penalty is suitable and will also act as a deterrent in the future," said the statement.
Meanwhile, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton bagged a record-extending pole position for the first French Grand Prix in a decade.
Finnish team mate Valtteri Bottas, who had gone top moments earlier, had to settle for second -- just 0.118 of a second slower -- as the Silver Arrows locked out the front row in style.
Ferrari's championship leader Sebastian Vettel, a point ahead of the Briton after seven of 21 races, qualified in third place.
Sunday's race will be the first French Grand Prix since Magny-Cours in 2008 and the first held at the southern Le Castellet circuit since 1990.
"It feels great to be back in France. It's such a beautiful place. I got a great response from the crowd and I'm delighted to be here for the first time," said Hamilton, who described his final session as 'so-so'.
The pole, in a time of one minute 30.029 seconds, was his third of the year and pushed his Formula One record to 75.
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