Red Bull are confused as to why only 850ml of fuel could be pumped out of Sebastian Vettel’s car after qualifying, leaving him 150ml short of the required one litre sample.
The German, who qualified 3rd, will now start last from the pitlane after the stewards disqualified him from Saturday’s proceedings.
Team principal Christian Horner says he was confused by the lack of fuel in Vettel’s car and therefore made the decision to start from the pits in order to further investigate.
“During the slow down lap following the final run of Q3, Renault instructed to immediately stop Sebastian’s car on the circuit due to an issue with the fuel system,” Horner explained.
![Isack Hadjar [pictured] has deferred to Max Verstappen for Day 2 of the F1 pre-season test. Image: Red Bull Content Pool](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Isack-Hadjar-Red-Bull-test-2026-120x86.webp)
“After speaking with the stewards, who accepted the situation of force majeure for technical reasons for the car to be stopped, unfortunately, for reasons yet to be fully understood, 850ml of the required one litre was pumped out of the car following post race checks.
“As a result, the FIA has excluded Sebastian from qualifying and we will withdraw the car from Parc Ferme in order to investigate further. Therefore Sebastian will start from the pit lane for tomorrow’s race.”
Horner though says Renault are adamant that enough fuel is in the car, but due to the regulations the FIA can only extract it using specified means and without removing any bodywork.
Vettel isn’t giving up though: “One of the best ski jumpers of all times once said ‘Every chance is an opportunity and as far as we are concerned there are still plenty of chances tomorrow,” he added.
![Isack Hadjar [pictured] has deferred to Max Verstappen for Day 2 of the F1 pre-season test. Image: Red Bull Content Pool](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Isack-Hadjar-Red-Bull-test-2026-350x250.webp)
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