F1 | Aston Martin's complaint against Ferrari rejected

Shanghai – The complaint presented by the company has been officially rejected Aston Martin against Ferrari at the end of the qualifications of Chinese Grand Prix. The stable of Lawrence stroll had relied on point 39.6 of the regulation, according to which “oAny driver whose car stops on the circuit during the qualifying practice session or sprint shootout will not be eligible to take part in any further part of the sessionAnd". Notably, the protest came after that Carlos Sainz, facing the wall after a spin in Q2, still took part in Q3.

After listening to the parties and hours of consultation, the race direction decided to reject the complaint, as Sainz did not "receive any external help" to return to the track, despite more than a minute's stop in the grass.

In the decision, the race direction clarified that if a car actually stops on the track during qualifying, it can no longer take part in the session. Despite the rule, however, several teams present cited events where the rule was not applied to the letter.

La FIA he made it clear that, if the car can restart in a reasonable time, then it can return to competition. The reasonable time translates to 30 seconds, although this may vary depending on the circumstances. The same teams have tried, in the past, to reach an agreement to determine this reasonable time frame, but without arriving at a solution.

The crucial point of the denial, however, lies in the fact that car number 55 actually did not receive any external help to restart.

Aston Martin accepted the decision supported by previous events, but it raises a question about the length of time the car remains stationary - in this specific case one minute and seventeen seconds.

Since there were no rules or agreements, the FIA ​​left discretion to the race management. During the session, the car was reported as stopped on the track, falling within the case of 39.6. Race management clarified that the report reported the standard language used in these cases – for example as a Montreal 2022, where Albon it was reported stopped, but managed to leave after forty seconds.

Again, the Formula One Commission, in a meeting held in Hot Tub in 2023, had agreed to amend article 39.6 by adding “without outside help“, a change which, however, was not actually made.

Taking this and the various events mentioned into account, the FIA ​​has decided to reject the complaint presented by Aston Martin.