Force India was fined €5,000 by Hungarian Grand Prix stewards this afternoon for a tyre mix-up during the weekend's first free practice session this morning.

Test driver Paul di Resta was driving in place of Vitantonio Liuzzi for the session, but completed his installation lap at the start of the ninety minutes on medium-compound tyres that had been allocated to Liuzzi's car for use in the third free practice session tomorrow morning. This breached regulations, resulting in the fine. Di Resta lost almost an hour of running as a result of the mix-up.

“Car number 15 [Paul di Resta] used one set of prime tyres which is allocated for use during P3, Qualifying and the race of this Event,” read a statement from the stewards. “This is in contradiction to Article 25.4 a) of the 2010 FIA Formula One Sporting Regulaions.”

Di Resta returned to the track later in the session on the correct set of tyres, meaning Liuzzi 's allocation for the rest of the weekend will include the set on which di Resta completed his installation run this morning. “It was just a mistake,” team manager Andy Stevenson told Manipe F1 in the Hungaroring paddock, insisting that there would be no need to update team procedures.

Force India received a reprimand from the German Grand Prix stewards last Sunday for another tyre mix-up, albeit an entirely different infringement.