The FIA has dismissed Alfa Romeo’s protest against its German Grand Prix penalty, meaning the result of July’s chaotic rain-hit race is now official.
Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi classified seventh and eighth respectively at Hockenheim, but post-race checks determined an anomaly in their clutch torque application procedure during the race start.
It was revealed that “the torque in the clutch at the start did not match the torque demand as the driver released the clutch within the specified 70 millisecond maximum period.”
For Raikkonen this time was measured at “approximately 200 milliseconds”, while for Giovinazzi the time was measured at “approximately 300 milliseconds.”
Raikkonen and Giovinazzi were handed 30-second time penalties, in lieu of a drive-through sanction, that relegated them outside of the points, in turn promoting Romain Grosjean, Kevin Magnussen, Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.
Alfa Romeo notified its intention to appeal and its case was held by the FIA in Paris on Tuesday, but its arguments were dismissed, meaning the race result stands, and the championship points remain as they were.
A short statement read: ""The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided to declare the appeals not admissible; to order the competent Sporting Authority to draw, as appropriate, the consequences of this ruling."
Hamilton, who inherited two points via Alfa Romeo’s penalty, thus still leads Valtteri Bottas by 65 points, with Kubica and Williams retaining their sole 2019 score.
