Whiting: Pit-lane games "all part of the show"

Over recent weeks, Mercedes have stepped out into their pit box without the arrival of either Lewis Hamilton or Valtteri Bottas. Some fans have started to question this as the sporting regulations should prevent them from doing it.

Article 28.12 says: "Team personnel are only allowed in the pit lane immediately before they are required to work on a car and must withdraw as soon as the work is complete."

Occasionally, you see Mercedes coming out to do a "dummy" in the hope it'll bring rival cars into the pits. In an interview to RaceFans, Charlie Whiting has cleared up why he and his stewards' team give this a green light.

"It was clear they could have been stopping. Whether they had any intention to do it, I don't know.

"The rule’s in place purely to stop people hanging around all the time if you remember they used to be out in the pit lane nearly all the time. I think it works pretty well. They all play little games occasionally.

"If they’d been hanging around in that area for a couple of minutes at the same time Ferrari were coming for example then we might have something to say about it. I think that’s all part of the show."