Alfa Romeo has formally lodged its appeal against the time penalties handed to its two drivers in Germany for a breach of the clutch regulations.

A post-race investigation in Hockenheim meant that several hours after the end of the race, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi were both handed 30s time penalties which dropped them out of the points while promoting Lewis Hamilton and Robert Kubica.

The penalties related to the claim that both drivers had an advantage at the time of the wet standing start courtesy of the way their clutches were operated, namely that the clutch at the start did not match the torque demand as the driver released the clutch within the specified 70 millisecond maximum period. Indeed, the time was measured at approximately 200 milliseconds.

"The situation arose during the laps we spent behind the safety car ahead of the standing start," explained team boss, Frederic Vasseur, in the wake of the stewards decision, "we suffered a dysfunction of the clutch that was beyond our control.

"We respect the FIA's process and the stewards' work," he added, "but will appeal this decision as we believe we have the grounds and evidence to have it overturned. In this regard, we will be in touch with the FIA soon."

Sure enough, this morning the team formally lodged its appeal with the FIA.

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