Aston Martin’s request to review the disqualification of Sebastian Vettel from the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix has been denied.
A hearing with the team and FIA stewards on Monday afternoon (local time) was held at which any new evidence could be presented.
According to the British team, while the stewards accept its explanation as to why officials were unable to extract the full fuel sample, it did not constitute new evidence.
Data from Aston Martin suggested there was more fuel than the 0.3 litres the FIA was able to extract.
“Since the team’s data indicated that there was more than 1.0 litre of fuel in the car after the race – 1.74 litres in fact – the team requested a right of review, as a result of having discovered what it deemed to be significant new evidence relevant to the sanction which was unavailable to it at the time of the FIA stewards’ decision,” a statement from the team noted.
“That review has now been completed, and, while the FIA stewards accept the team’s explanation of a fuel system failure as the cause of a leak resulting in an unexpected loss of fuel, their verdict was that the team’s petition for review be denied on the basis that its new evidence was not relevant to the requirement to provide 1.0 litre of fuel.”
For a right to review to proceed, officials must be satisfied that there is significant new evidence presented that was not available at the time of the initial hearing.
Even allowing for that, stewards are not obliged to grant the review under the regulations, let alone change their decision.
“We felt that the evidence we presented was relevant and demonstrated to the FIA that he should have been reinstated following his disqualification,” said Otmar Szafnauer, Aston Martin team principal.
“Unfortunately, the FIA took a different view and, despite the fact that that the accuracy of our new evidence was not contested, Sebastian’s disqualification has been upheld on the basis that the new evidence was not deemed ‘relevant’.
“That is disappointing, and we will now consider our position in respect of the full appeal process.”
Alongside its petition for review of the exclusion, Aston Martin also lodged an appeal, which remains outstanding.
Discussion about this post