02/11/2018
NEWS STORY
The FIA's International Court of Appeal has upheld the decision of Monza stewards to disqualify Romain Grosjean for an illegal floor.
On 2 September, the stewards of the Italian Grand Prix held a hearing following a protest lodged by Renault Sport Racing Ltd ("Renault") against Car No. 8 of Haas Formula One Team ("Haas").
During this hearing, Renault submitted that Haas' car was not in compliance with Article 3.7.1.d of the Technical Regulations of the FIA Formula One World Championship, as clarified by TD/033-18, issued on 25 July 2018 further to a request for clarification on the radius of 50 mm (+/-2 mm) which must apply to each front corner of the reference plane.
After having inspected Car No. 8, the FIA Technical Delegate considered that it was not in compliance with the Technical Regulations.
On the basis of the FIA Technical Delegate's report, the Stewards decided to disqualify Car No. 8 from the results of the 2018 Italian Grand Prix and to amend the classification.
On 5 September 2018, Haas decided to appeal the decision No. 42 taken by the Stewards during the Italian Grand Prix.
Decision of the International Court of Appeal
The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided:
To uphold the Decision No. 42 of the Stewards of the 2018 Italian Grand Prix held in Monza counting towards the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship;
To confirm the exclusion of Haas F1 Team's car No. 8 from the 2018 Italian Grand Prix held in Monza counting towards the 2018 FIA Formula One World Championship;
To order the competent Sporting Authority to draw, as appropriate, the consequences of this ruling.
To date, only the operative part of the decision has been notified to the Parties. The full decision including grounds will be notified later on.
Grosjean finished sixth in the Italian Grand Prix, which saw Haas leapfrog Renault to take fourth in the team standings, the American outfit in only its third season.
Since the disqualification the American team's performance, which had been steadily improving in the races beforehand, has dropped off significantly, its only points coming courtesy of a brace of eighths in Russia (Magnussen) and Japan (Grosjean).
"Obviously we are disappointed not to have won our appeal," said team boss Guenther Steiner in reaction to the ruling. "We simply move forward and look to the final two races of the year to continue our fight on-track, earn more points, and conclude our strongest season to date in Formula One."
"Technical Regulations - especially those introduced for safety reasons - must be observed strictly," said Renault's chassis technical director, Nick Chester. "We are satisfied with the decision and I would like to thank the court and the FIA for their work on this matter. The team is now focused on the end of the season."