Chinese Doctor (Qualifying): Aston Martin had its complaint rejected by the FIA

Mathieu Warnier, Media365, published on Saturday April 20, 2024 at 18:10 pm

After the incident caused by Carlos Sainz Jr during qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix, the Aston Martin team questioned the fact that the Spaniard was able to return to the track. However, the FIA ​​did not follow up on his complaint.

The Aston Martin team had a case. During the second part of the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session, Carlos Sainz Jr made a mistake. After causing the red flag, the Spanish driver was able to get his Ferrari back into his pit, which allowed him to participate in the rest of the session. Which made the British team raise their eyebrows when Lance Stroll failed to get through Q2 by a few thousandths of a second. As a result, the managers of Mike Krack and Aston Martin submitted a complaint to the FIA ​​commissioners stating that the sporting regulations provide that “any driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or the qualifiers of the session will not be allowed to continue participating in this session To judge this matter, the commissioners called representatives of the Aston Martin team, the race management and the FIA ​​through its director of the single seat department.

Jurisprudence has won

In fact, the management simply rejected the complaints presented by the Silverstone team. The latter relied on existing case law on the subject, saying that Aston Martin’s request “is not how this rule has been used by teams and the FIA ​​in the past”. In particular, the case of Alexander Albon was discussed during the 2022 edition of the Canadian Grand Prix, who returned to the track after having to stop his car following contact with the wall. “Due to the lack of clear guidance in the regulations or case law establishing when too long is too long, we believe that this remains in the discretion of racial management,” the commissioners explained. The FIA ​​team explained that as long as the car can restart within a reasonable time after stopping, this is normally allowed. The usual time is around thirty seconds, but it can vary depending on the situation. » Therefore, the result of the Chinese Grand Prix qualifying session is not in doubt, with Max Verstappen who will start from pole position this Sunday.