Williams’ request for several incidents that occurred at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix be reviewed has been dismissed, after it was deemed “no new elements” were presented.
Williams sent a request for stewards to review a handful of incidents from Baku, including the one that earned Sergey Sirotkin a three-place grid drop for the upcoming event in Spain.
Sirotkin earned the sanction for running into the rear of Sergio Perez at Turn 2, and retired shortly afterwards in the wake of further contact with Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg.
Williams also queried the manner in which Alonso returned his damaged McLaren to the pit lane, and also asked for separate incidents between Kevin Magnussen and Pierre Gasly, and Esteban Ocon and Kimi Raikkonen, to be reviewed.
The FIA organised a teleconference for Tuesday morning to discuss whether it felt it necessary to take the matter forward.
In addition to the Azerbaijan Grand Prix stewards, Williams Team Manager Dave Redding, Williams’ General Counsel Mark Biddle and F1 Race Director Charlie Whiting were in attendance.
Williams was informed that the presence of a lawyer was "not usual", though Mr. Biddle was granted permission to be present as an observer.
It was determined unanimously by stewards that Williams presented “no new significant and relevant element” that “justifies a review of any of the incidents” requested.
A detailed analysis of each incident was communicated following the preliminary hearing.
In relation to the incident for which Sirotkin was penalised, stewards explained that “this was a case where one car crashed into the rear of another, and was not similar to other first lap incidents where cars were side-by-side. The penalty was similar to other penalties for similar collisions and was consistent with the minimum grid penalties given previously”.
Regarding the late-race clash between Gasly and Magnussen, Williams had argued that the penalty issued to the Haas driver was “inconsequential”, and the stewards rebuffed, explaining “the team is reminded that since the meeting of 2013 between the FIA and representatives of the teams and drivers, the consequences of penalties are not taken into account.
“Further to the above, and in relation to other penalties, since the beginning of 2016 there have been a total of 87 incidents involving alleged “causing a collision” in the Formula One Championship
“Of these, as a result of the “let them race” policy, 55 have resulted in No Further Action. 14 have resulted in 10 second penalties and nine have resulted in three grid position penalties for the next race. A very small number involved other penalties. Therefore the penalties imposed on Magnussen, [Marcus] Ericsson and Sirotkin were entirely consistent with previous practice and with the penalty guidelines. The cases of No Further Action (including the Raikkonen/Ocon clash – ed) were also consistent with previous practice.”
Referring to Alonso’s return to the pit lane it was explained that “the Race Director specifically referred to the actions of the driver of Car 14 [Alonso] in returning to the pits after his incident in lap one and noted that firstly, the Safety Car was present, and secondly that the driver took care to avoid the racing line, avoid following traffic and minimised risk.
“Williams Martini Racing was aware of the actions of the driver of Car 14 as it occurred. Their team at the “mission control” in the UK saw it on the live television feed and the team on the pit wall would have seen the driver of Car 14 enter the pits, as it had to drive past them. Therefore it cannot be argued that this is a “new element”."
Regarding the clash between Sirotkin, Hulkenberg and Alonso, it was explained that "as the stewards took no decision on this matter, the team could have protested the matter within the permitted time limit, but chose not to exercise this right.”
The report concluded by commenting that "in relation to the media reporting tabled by Williams Martin Racing in its request for a review, these reports are not considered significant and relevant".
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