Haas lose FIA appeal over Grosjean DSQ from Italian GP

Haas has lost its appeal to the FIA over Romain Grosjean’s disqualification from the Italian Grand Prix.

Grosjean had initially finished in sixth place at Monza, which lifted his team up to fourth place in the Formula 1 world constructors’ championship, until a protest launched by Renault saw the French driver disqualified post-race following an FIA-led enquiry.

Haas were penalised for an illegal floor part which was not compliant with the technical regulations.

The US team duly submitted its appeal to the FIA Court of Appeal which has been heard in Paris, which has ruled in favour of the initial decision. As a result, Grosjean remains disqualified from the Italian Grand Prix with the F1 world championship points unchanged.

Reacting to the FIA Court of Appeal decision Renault’s technical director Nick Chester is pleased by the call and is keen to move on from the matter ahead of the final two races of the 2018 campaign.

“Technical Regulations – especially those introduced for safety reasons - must be observed strictly,” Chester said. “We are satisfied with the decision and I would like to thank the court and the FIA for their work on this matter. The team is now focused on the end of the season.”

Haas remain 30 points behind Renault in the fight for fourth place in the F1 teams’ standings, while the official disqualification marks the US squad’s second omission post-race following Kevin Magnussen suffering the same fate after his car used over the permitted 105kg of fuel during the race during the United States Grand Prix.

With Magnussen losing his ninth place from the Circuit of the Americas race coupled with Grosjean having to sacrifice his sixth place at Monza Haas has lost 10 points over the course of this season.