Aston Martin suffer F1 blow as FIA dismiss right of review of Sebastian Vettel’s Hungary disqualification

Aston Martin’s bid to get Sebastian Vettel’s costly disqualification from the Hungarian GP reviewed has been dismissed by the FIA.

The team still have an option to appeal the penalty – which lost Vettel second place in Budapest – although the latest verdict from the FIA stewards is a major blow to their hopes of success.

Vettel was disqualified long after he stepped on the podium last Sunday after Aston Martin failed to provide the required 1-litre fuel sample. Launching their appeal process and their right of review last week, the team claimed there were 1.74litres of fuel left in the car – despite the FIA technical delegate only being able to extract 0.3litres.

They also said they had “discovered significant new evidence” in the case.

The stewards met with Aston Martin personnel – including team boss Otmar Szafnauer – on Monday afternoon, with the team providing the “new evidence” – claiming that a “fuel system failure” led to them not having the required amount of fuel after the race.

However, the right of review request was denied as the FIA as F1’s governing body – while accepting it was new information – claimed it did not matter why there was less than 1-litre of fuel in the car.

“The technical regulations unequivocally calls for a remaining amount of 1 litre and does not allow any exceptions,” read an FIA statement on Monday evening.

“Therefore, for the assessment of whether or not 1-litre requirement was broken, it does not make a difference why there was less than 1 litre. There may be a couple of explanations why at the end of a race the remaining amount is insufficient.

“In any case, it remains the sole responsibility of the competitor to ensure the car is in conformity with the regulations at all times and it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

“In order to affirm a relevant fact, Aston Martin would have had to present facts that actually more than 1-litre of fuel was remaining. The explanation why this requirement could not be met is not relevant to the decision as to whether a breach of the regulations has occurred.”

More to follow…

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