F1 Madness

Tag: disqualification

  • FIA to hear Red Bull Ricciardo appeal today

    FIA to hear Red Bull Ricciardo appeal today

    Red Bull have appealed Daniel Ricciardo’s second place Australian Grand Prix disqualification and the appeal will be heard by the FIA at a hearing in Paris today.

    According to team boss, Christian Horner, Red Bull are confident that they have a “very strong case.”

    Ricciardo, who raced his way to second place at the seasoning opening home grand prix for the Aussie but was stripped of the position, and the 18 accompanying points, after his RB10 was found to have “consistently exceed” the maximum allowed fuel flow rate of 100 kgs per hour.

    Red Bull have argued that there was a problem with the sensors provided by the FIA which is why they chose to rely on their own. In essence, the team chose to ignore a technical directive from the FIA which explains what to do in the event of a fuel flow sensor ‘drifting’ or failing completely.

    According to the team, Ricciardo’s sensor did drift, and they therefore chose to use a back-up system which had not been pre-approved by the FIA. The disqualification was as a direct result of Red Bull ignoring the FIA’s advice before and during the race. The governing body insists that Red Bull were warned several times during the race.

    Horner claims that the team had every right to ignore the FIA’s advice – because it was exactly that, advice, and not legally binding rules as per the technical regulations.

    Daniel RicciardoShould the team win their appeal, they will move up to second place in the Constructors’ Championship, and Ricciardo would move up to third place in the Drivers’ Championship.

    “Those points are vital, every point is vital,” Horner said. “We believe we’ve a very strong case. As more races have progressed issues have become more evident, new evidence has come to light, new understandings have come to light. Hopefully we can present our case fairly and get the second place Daniel deserves from Melbourne.”

    Ricciardo has confirmed that he will not attend the hearing in Paris today.

  • Red Bull adamant Ricciardo fuel flow rate was within regulations, will appeal

    Red Bull adamant Ricciardo fuel flow rate was within regulations, will appeal

    Red Bull Team Principal, Christan Horner, remains adamant that the team complied fully with regulations governing the flue flow rate following Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from the Australian Grand Prix.

    Ricciardo, who finished the race in second place, becoming the first Australian to win a podium at the Australian Grand Prix, was excluded from the race results following a decision by the stewards after the FIA deemed his car had exceeded the 100kg/h flow limit. They have released a detailed explanation on their ruling, which you can read in full here.

    Christian-HornerTeam boss Christian Horner is confident however that Red Bull will win the appeal against the ruling saying that there was “zero variance” from the 100kg/h limit on Red Bull’s own calibrated equipment which the team relies on since they do not trust the FIA’s own sensor following previous faults with it.

    “These fuel-flow sensors that are provided by the FIA to measure fuel have proved problematic down the pitlane since their introduction in testing,” Horner said shortly after news broke of Ricciardo’s disqualification from second place.

    “There have been discrepancies and they have been unreliable – indeed some cars may well have run without them in the race itself or failed in the race itself. We had a fuel-flow sensor that was fitted to the car that we believed had an error. Based on our calculation on the fuel that the injectors are providing to the engine, which is a calibrated piece of equipment and is consistently standard across the pitlane, there is zero variance.”

    Red Bull are appealing the decision and expect that it will be overturned. “We wouldn’t be appealing if we didn’t think that we had a defendable case,” he said.