Mercedes asked for three-race Red Bull ban
The FIA's International Court of Appeal (ICA) has revealed that Mercedes requested Red Bull be banned for at least three races over Daniel Ricciardo's Australian Grand Prix fuel flow issue.
Ricciardo was excluded from the race for consistently exceeding the maximum allowed fuel flow rate, and the team's appeal against the sanction was rejected in Paris on Tuesday morning. However, Mercedes was a party in the hearing calling for a tougher penalty, and in explaining the decision, the ICA confirmed the exact details of Mercedes' request.
"[Mercedes] requested ... that the Court not only confirms the penalty imposed on [Red Bull] but that a more severe sanction of a ban of no less than three races, plus a disqualification for a further 6 months, suspended for a year, be imposed on Red Bull."
However, the ICA confirmed that it had decided not to increase the punishment, despite upholding the original stewards' decision.
"[Red Bull] failed to convince the Court that its car complied with Article 5.1.4 TR at all times during the F1 2014 Australian Grand Prix. Now that car No.3 exceeded the FFL during the race, the drier has been excluded from the race results in accordance with the provisions of Article 29.5 of the F1 sporting regulations.
"In addition, and considering the technical issues at stake and the fact that this was the first official race under this new technology, the Court does not find that [Red Bull]'s attitude in Australia was fraudulent.
"Based on the foregoing, the Court finds that the penalty imposed on [Red Bull] by the Stewards is proportionate and that the Decision must be upheld."
