The FIA rejects Haas’ complaint regarding the order of the final restart

For the last restart of the race, the FIA had decided to apply the grid order at the time of the penultimate restart, just before the series of crashes that saw both Alpine cars, Nyck de Vries, and Logan Sargeant being permanently out. The reason: the red flag was waved before all the drivers could complete the first sector.

This decision was very painful to digest at Haas, especially as Nico Hülkenberg benefited from all these retirements, finishing fourth when the race was interrupted for the last time. Haas has lodged a complaint regarding the result of the Australian Grand Prix.

“The American team has therefore decided to lodge a complaint against this decision, relying on article 57.3 of the Sporting Regulations, which states that « the order of the restart is taken at the last point where it was possible to determine the position of all cars ».”

The race stewards have just dismissed the protest after summoning race director Niels Wittich for further clarification. He stated that, given the time available to resume the race, the most reliable reference point was the last grid position (from the penultimate restart, after the red flag caused by Magnussen), considering the data available at that time, namely the relative positions of the cars and the incidents that had occurred on the track, as stated by the FIA in a statement.

This determination had to be made in the context of a timed test, and therefore the decision of the race control and race director had to be taken quickly, with the exercise of appropriate discretionary power and using the most appropriate information available to them at that time, adds the FIA.

In these circumstances, based on what we have heard from the representatives of the FIA and Haas, we consider that the race director acted appropriately in this case and therefore reject the claim », she concludes. The result of the race is therefore final.