On Monday August 9th, FIA rejected Aston Martin’s bid to overturn Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification from 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix due to lack of new relevant evidence.
The FIA stewards accepted 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.
It is head scratching for fans that FIA is expecting 1 liter of fuel even after their own fuel system is failed during the race and caused fuel leak.
After the ruling, Aston Martin team principal Otmar released a official statement on FIA ruling and next steps for team.
Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & Team Principal:
“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.
“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.”
Aston Martin can take this issue to International court of appeal or they can move on from this by accepting the disqualification, which has a huge implication on their standings in the both drivers and constructor’s championship.