Williams and Toyota disqualified in CanadaWilliams and Toyota, including driver Ralf Schumacher, have both been disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix.
The air ducts which cool the braking systems on the cars of both teams have been found to contravene regulations.
It means the results of Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya from Williams and those of Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis for Toyota now no longer count towards the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
Just over an hour after the race, Jo Bauer, the technical delegate of motorsport's governing body, the FIA, submitted a report to the race stewards.
Bauer confirmed the ducts had been checked on all the cars in parc ferme, and those of Ralf Schumacher, Montoya, da Matta and Panis did not comply with Formula One’s technical regulations.
Following a series of frantic meetings between the race stewards, Tony Scott Andrews, Katsutoshi Tamura and Roger Peart, with the technical directors of Williams and Toyota in Sam Michael and Mike Gascoyne respectively, all four cars were thrown out.
A statement read: “The stewards have received a report from the technical director that the air ducts for the purpose of cooling the front brakes of the cars driven by Juan Pablo Montoya, Ralf Schumacher, Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis do not comply with the dimensional requirements of Article 11.4 of the 2004 Formula One technical regulations.
“The stewards have heard the explanation of the BMW Williams Formula One team technical director, Mr Sam Michael, and Panasonic Toyota Racing technical director, Mr Mike Gascoyne, and their clear acceptance of the facts determined by the technical delegate.
“It is the stewards’ decision that cars numbered 3, 4, 16 and 17 be excluded from the results.”
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