Aston Martin confirms appeal procedure against Vettel's Hungarian GP disqualification
The Silverstone-based Aston Martin F1 team issued a statement on Thursday, confirming that it still intends to follow through with its appeal against Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification from second place in last Sunday's Hungaroring race.
The four-time world champion used the first-corner melee at the start of the Hungarian Grand Prix to jump to the sharp end of the field, capitalizing on Valtteri Bottas’ overambitious move that forced Lando Norris and Sergio Perez to retire and caused a significant damage to Max Verstappen’s car.
Vettel then jumped to the second place at the restart when reigning champion Lewis Hamilton made a huge mistake by deciding against pitting for dry-weather tyres on the second formation lap. The German then performed a race-long battle with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon for the race win with the Frenchman able to fend off the faster Aston Martin racer.
However, Vettel was excluded from his second place finish after the FIA was unable to retrieve the required one litre sample of fuel from the car for post-race testing. Aston Martin immediately confirmed its intention to appeal which gave the Silverstone-based outfit a 96-hour period to decide whether to take it further.
On Thursday, Aston Martin issued a statement, confirming its intention to push ahead with the appeal against the stewards' decision.
UPDATE: Following Sebastian Vettel's disqualification from the Hungarian Grand Prix, Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One™ Team requests right of review and initiates appeal procedure.
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) August 5, 2021
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"After Sebastian Vettel’s drive to second place on the road in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday August 1, he was disqualified from the results when a 1.0 litre sample of fuel was not able to be taken from his car after the race (a requirement as set out in the FIA Formula One Technical Regulations).
"There was and is no suggestion that Vettel’s Aston Martin Cognizant Formula One Team AMR21 car benefited from a performance advantage from the alleged regulatory breach, or that it was deliberate.
"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 according to the data – the team immediately reserved its right to appeal, and has requested a right of review alongside the appeal procedure, as a result of having discovered significant new evidence relevant to the sanction which was unavailable to it at the time of the FIA stewards' decision," the team's statement read.
