Alfa Romeo confirms appeal of German GP penalties

Alfa Romeo Racing has confirmed that it has appealed the penalties which pushed both of its drivers out of the top 10 of the German Grand Prix.

Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi each had 30 seconds added to their race times due to how their clutches engaged at the start of a wet Hockenheim race.

Stewards deemed that the engagements occurred in such a way that “could potentially mimic traction control”, with the penalties dropping Raikkonen and Giovinazzi from seventh and eighth respectively to 12th and 13th.

Alfa Romeo cited the “unusual weather conditions” as the reason for what was ultimately an excessive lag between torque demand and torque in the clutch.

Team boss Frederic Vasseur subsequently claimed that says that the laps spent behind Safety Car before race start caused a “dysfunction of the clutch” and indicated that Alfa Romeo would appeal the penalties.

“We respect the FIA’s process and the stewards’ work, but will appeal this decision as we believe we have the grounds and evidence to have it overturned,” he added at the time.

In a brief statement on social media, the team has now advised that, “Alfa Romeo Racing lodged an appeal against the decision No. 56 and 57 of the Stewards of the 2019 German Grand Prix.”

Document 56 is the Raikkonen penalty decision and Document 57 that for Giovinazzi.

Among those to benefit from their sanctions were Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who extended his world championship lead with two points gained having taken the chequered flag in 11th, and Robert Kubica, who got Williams’ first point of the season as a result.

Practice for this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix starts tonight at 1900 AEST.