Quote Originally Posted by The Black Knight View Post
I think that would become very obvious very quickly... plus the damage actually cost them performance and they were able to show that. They weren't even allowed to fix it ffs. This penalty is completely wrong.
1.3.3 If an Automobile is found not to comply with the applicable technical regulations, it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

The regulations do as much as possible to not allow for gray area. There is even a specific technical directive on how this test is done.

It sucks for Mercedes but they are fortunate that this happened after qualifying and not after the Sprint or the main race. Similar to the situation with Vettel the penalty would be without conditions attached. Intention does not create compliance.