F1: Aston Martin denied right of review of Vettel’s Hungarian GP disqualification

Aston Martin’s claim for a right of review of Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification from the Hungarian Grand Prix has been denied.

Aston submitted evidence showing that the lack of fuel was caused by a fuel-system failure that led to a leak.

But stewards ruled that this was “not relevant” to the disqualification.

Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer said the result was “disappointing”, adding: “We will now consider our position in respect of the full appeal process.”

Vettel’s second place would have been the team’s best result of the season and would have significantly boosted Aston Martin’s position in the constructors’ championship, on which prize money is decided at the end of the year.

What happened in the hearing?

The stewards from the race meeting were reconvened on Monday to assess Aston Martin’s new evidence.

The team have accepted that only 0.3 litres of fuel remained in the car after the race, a point it contested at the time as it had not then discovered the leak.

Stewards accepted that the evidence of a leak somewhere in the fuel system satisfied the requirement for “new” evidence, which is one of four separate criteria a team must satisfy for a right of review of the decision to be granted.

However, stewards said that the article in the F1 rules relevant to the case “unequivocally call for a remaining amount of one litre [of fuel] and does not allow any exceptions under which circumstances or for what reasons” less was available.

Therefore, the reason for the lack of fuel was deemed “not relevant” to the disqualification, and the team’s case was rejected. – bbc.com