Haas has had its protest against the final result of the Australian Grand Prix dismissed by the FIA.
The American outfit had launched an appeal immediately after the conclusion of the race, with the team in line to potentially score its first podium finish in Formula 1.
Sunday’s third round of the 2023 World Championship witnessed a record three red flags be displayed, including two late in proceedings that caused plenty of controversy.
When Kevin Magnussen hit the wall at Turn 2 and scattered debris across the track, a second stoppage was enforced with three laps remaining and a standing restart procedure put in place.
Upon the restart carnage ensued as several collisions materialised, most notably between the two Spanish drivers of Fernando Alonso and Carlos Sainz.
Subsequently, another red flag was instantly flagged and the drivers returned to the pit-lane, with Nico Hulkenberg lining up fourth on the road after a strong launch.
But the FIA’s decision to opt for the race restarting in its original order before the secondary restart behind the Safety Car meant Hulkenberg toured the final lap of the day back down in eighth.
Eventually the German returnee would be promoted up to seventh when Sainz’s five-second time penalty for causing a collision was applied.
Although Haas added six points to its season tally, the team were incensed that it had been robbed of inheriting its maiden podium finish in the sport.
However, several hours after the race finished, the FIA have released a verdict stating that Haas’ attempts to reverse the race classification have not been successful.
The Stewards cited that Article 57.3 of the F1 Sporting Regulation states: “In all cases the order will be taken at the last point at which it was possible to determine the position of all cars…”.
However, Haas argued that “it was possible for the position of all the cars to be determined at the SC2 [Safety Car 2] line not the previous starting grid.”
The Stewards deliberated with Race Director Neils Wittich who claimed that “in the time available for the continuation of the race, the most reliable point was the last grid, given the data available to him at the time”.
Haas acknowledged that the GPS data was unreliable for the purpose of establishing the order for the restart, but contended that “instead of the last grid, the timing data ought to have been used to establish the order of the cars”.
However, with a decision looming due to the grand prix still counting towards the three-hour mark under the red flag, the Stewards felt that the Race Director’s decision to use the order from the previous start to be satisfactory, resulting in the dismissal of the protest.
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