Red Bull has lodged its appeal against Ricciardo’s disqualification
The Red Bull team has just submitted its appeal against Daniel Ricciardo's disqualification at the Australian Grand Prix last Sunday. A date for a hearing should be set within the week.
Today was the final deadline to file an appeal against the decision taken after the Australian Grand Prix to disqualify Daniele Ricciardo from his second place. On Sunday, the stewards demoted the Australian for non-compliance with article 5.1.4 of the Formula 1 technical regulations. This article relates to the issue of the allowed fuel flow rate limit, which is 100 kg/h. Jo Bauer, the FIA delegate, alerted the stewards to the fact that the Red Bull No. 3 had regularly exceeded this limit during last Sunday’s race.
The greater the gasoline flow, the more evident the power gain
The limitation of fuel flow to 100 kg/h was implemented by the governing bodies of the discipline to limit engine power. Exceeding this threshold, explains Craig Scarborough on Autosport, provides an obvious power gain which will lead – intentionally or not – to non-compliance with the technical regulations. On this point, the FIA approved a sensor to monitor this flow. It was supposed to be installed by teams on all cars. However, Red Bull removed it.
Christian Horner, director of Red Bull, defended himself by announcing that the sensor we were provided with was not functioning properly, we calculated the fuel flow based directly on the injection flows. Since the injectors are calibrated, no variation is possible. There was a significant difference between the values from this sensor and reality.
The FIA warned Red Bull several times during the race
The FIA states that it attempted to warn Red Bull several times, including during the race: « The FIA observed via telemetry during the race an excessive fuel flow and contacted the team, giving them the opportunity to follow the instructions already given by reducing the flow within the limits authorized by the FIA-approved sensor. ».
The FIA report also indicates that Red Bull did not comply with the regulations by deliberately relying on a measurement other than that indicated by the homologated sensor: « Although the homologated sensor showed a value discrepancy during free practice, it remains the homologated and mandatory sensor on which the team must base itself to measure fuel flow, unless permission is given by the FIA to do otherwise. »
The decision should be ratified or contested at a hearing whose date will be set this week.
