Yes, the pinion is 1.5.
But that is not the issue. if you look at the article, the issue is the flange on the crown gear. It's made/molded like a standard gear that fits a 2 mm standard motor shaft.

So there is excess freeplay and the gear will move back and forth.

And that is why you need to sleeve at least the END on the motor shaft that sits in the crown.
All of the latest MRRC models I purchased have the standard gear out of the box. This model included.