Aston Martin’s right to review Vettel’s DSQ dismissed by F1 stewards

On Thursday, the Aston Martin Formula 1 team formally requested a review of Vettel’s disqualification from the Hungarian GP.

Vettel was excluded from the results after finishing second due to the FIA being unable to take the mandatory one-litre sample of fuel from his car after the race.

The FIA confirmed that it was only able to remove 0.3 litres of fuel from Vettel’s car, but Aston Martin was sure there was 1.74 litres left in the car and indicated its intention to appeal the decision.

A statement by the team said that it was launching an appeal after discovering “significant new evidence” which was unavailable at the time of the stewards’ decision.

The FIA met with Aston Martin’s team personnel on Monday afternoon.

Aston Martin said that there was a failure in the fuel cell which caused it to be evacuated.

Its argument didn’t stand up with the FIA stating it’s the team's responsibility for ensuring a one-litre sample after the grand prix.

The FIA explained: “In the original decision, the stewards only assumed the fact that there was not enough fuel in the tank. The question of what caused that situation was left out of consideration. Art. 6.6 in its entirety and Art. 6.6.2 of the F1 Technical Regulations unequivocally calls for a remaining amount of one litre and does not allow any exceptions under which circumstances or for what reasons it could be dispensed with.

“Therefore, for the assessment of whether or not the one-litre requirement was broken, it does not make a difference why there was less than one litre. There may be a couple of explanations why at the end of a race the remaining amount is insufficient. In any case, it remains the sole responsibility of the competitor to ensure that the car is in conformity with the regulations all times and it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained.

“In order to be able to affirm a “relevant” fact, Aston Martin would have had to present facts that actually more than one litre of fuel was remaining. The explanation why this requirement could not be met is not relevant to the decision as to whether a breach of the regulations has occurred.”

Thus, the result from the Hungarian Grand Prix stands with Esteban Ocon in first ahead of Lewis Hamilton and Carlos Sainz.