1984
Lead shot in the water-injection tank
Tyrrell
Steward decisionVerified — secondary source
- Legal when raced
- No
- Closed
- 1984
- Survived
- same season
- Article
- —
What was exploited
Topping up a water-injection tank at a late pit stop, with lead balls found in the water bag and hydrocarbons in the water — ballast added after the car had run the race distance light.
The gap in the rulebook
Refuelling was banned and turbo cars limited to 220 L, but the consumable-fluid tank was unpoliced.
What it was worth
Running underweight for the race, then making the minimum at scrutineering.
How it was closed — Steward decision
The FISA Executive Committee found Tyrrell guilty on 18 July 1984. 13 points stripped and the team excluded from the rest of the championship.
What changed in the data
All 26 of Tyrrell's 1984 result rows are recorded as disqualified, which erases Bellof's and Brundle's real finishing positions from the data entirely.
Why it matters
The penalty is still visible in the dataset forty years later, as a hole where a season should be.