F1: Aston Martin appeals against Sebastian Vettel's Hungarian Grand Prix disqualification

Four-time Drivers' Championship winner Sebastian Vettel was disqualified from the Hungarian Grand Prix after an FIA technical delegate could not extract a sufficient fuel sample from his race car. Vettel had finished the race in second place, but due to a disqualification, he will not get any points. As a result, Aston Martin F1 immediately confirmed their intention to appeal against his disqualification.

Aston Martin launch appeal against Sebastian Vettel's disqualification

After few days of speculations, Aston Martin F1 have decided to follow up with their appeal against Sebastian Vettel's disqualification from second place at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Additionally, the team have also requested a 'right of review.' This is a slightly different process as this would reverse the stewards' original decision, meaning Vettel would be given second place back. After the German driver's disqualification, Aston Martin immediately confirmed their intention to appeal, giving them 96 hours to take the matter further.

Why was Sebastian Vettel penalized at the Hungarian GP?

Sebastian Vettel was disqualified from the Hungarian Grand Prix as the FIA were unable to extract the required 1.0-litre fuel sample from his car. However, Aston Martin released a statement on Thursday night, highlighting that their data showed that a sufficient amount of fuel was still left in the car. Moreover, they also mentioned that they had "discovered significant new evidence," which is why they were interested in continuing with their appeal.

Aston Martin's statement read,

"After Sebastian Vettel’s drive to second place on the road in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday August 1st, 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."    

Image: @AstonMartinF1/Twitter