The FIA has dismissed the right to review option of Aston Martin regarding F1 Hungarian GP disqualification of Sebastian Vettel, but team is set to push on for an appeal.
The right to review made by Aston Martin against the FIA stewards’ ruling of F1 Hungarian GP disqualification of Vettel from second place, has been dismissed. The German was disqualified after the technical team did not find 1 liter fuel in the car.
They found 0.3 liter, while Aston Martin claimed to have 1.44 liter in their tank. Subsequently, they noted of a fuel system issue in the days after, which is what was argued upon in the right to review hearing earlier on Monday.
Aston Martin were represented by Otmar Szafnauer, Andrew Green and Andy Stevenson, in an online hearing, while the FIA side had Michael Masi, Nikolas Tombazis, Tim Goss (Deputy Head of Technical Matters) and Cedrik Staudohar (F1 Data Analyst).
The new evidence presented by Aston Martin noted of a fuel system failure. The result of which, there was a loss of fuel cell pressure, where the air pump in the fuel cell activated a maximum output. Via this pumping, significant amount of the fuel was inadvertently discharged from the fuel cell.
Aston Martin reckons the failure of the Fuel Cell Pressure relief valve to seal is the prime suspect, but the FIA suspected that any leak path from the fuel cell would have caused the loss of fuel pressure and resulted in the loss of fuel. Additionally, they state that an important point here is that there was less than one liter of fuel in the car.
Whether it happened due to something – in this fuel system failure – becomes secondary for the time being. In essence, the FIA is bounded by that rule to disqualify. Aston Martin will have to present the whole sequence with facts in order to convince otherwise. The F1 team is likely to press on with an appeal.
Here’s the full decision: https://www.fia.com/sites/default/files/decision-document/2021%20Hungarian%20Grand%20Prix%20-%20Decision%20-%20Aston%20Martin%20-%20Right%20of%20review.pdf
#F1 Meanwhile, Aston Martin's petition for a right of review has been dismissed. Chances are, @AstonMartinF1 will push on with the appeal. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/suFE50iGib
— #MsportXtra (@MsportXtra) August 9, 2021
UPDATE: Following the outcome from the FIA, Aston Martin released a statement, where they noted about their disappointment. Even though the stewards agreed that the fuel system failure led to the leak, it eventually didn’t conform with the regulation of having at least one liter in the tank. The team is now looking at appealing the decision.
“Sebastian drove brilliantly in Hungary and we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to show significant new evidence that we discovered since the race,” said Otmar Szafnauer. “We felt that the evidence we presented was relevant and demonstrated to the FIA that he should have been reinstated following his disqualification.
“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.”
UPDATE: Having considered the matter extensively, Aston Martin has decided to withdraw its appeal, which confirms the disqualification of Vettel and keeps Carlos Sainz on the podium behind Lewis Hamilton and Esteban Ocon.
“Having considered our position and having noted the FIA stewards’ verdict that there was clear new evidence of a fuel system failure, we have nonetheless withdrawn our appeal on the basis that we believe doing so outweighs the benefits of it being heard,” a statement read.
