tyredeg
← Banned technology register
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.