F1 News: FIA Reaches Verdict on Aston Martin Protest

The FIA dismissed Aston Martin's protest regarding Carlos Sainz's continuation in Q2 after the red flag.

The FIA has dismissed Aston Martin's protest over the qualifying incident involving Ferrari's Carlos Sainz. The decision upheld that the Ferrari driver did not breach the regulations after causing a red flag.

The contention arose after Carlos Sainz was involved in an incident during the Q2 session that triggered a red flag. The Scuderia driver stalled his engine and ran wide into a gravel trap, spinning his car into the barriers. But using the onboard battery was able to restart and limp his way back to the pits with minor front-end damage.

Aston Martin lodged a formal complaint against this allowance, citing Article 39.6 of the FIA regulations, which addresses the continuation of drivers in qualifying after causing a stoppage. The crux of their argument was whether Sainz's action warranted exclusion from the continuation of the session. According to the team, the continuation of Sainz in Q2 potentially contravened the sporting regulations.

However, the FIA, after reviewing the incident, ruled in favor of Sainz, stating that the rulebook was interpreted in the context of the ability of the car to proceed under its own power. Since he managed to return to the pits without external assistance and continued participating in the qualifying, the stewards found no basis for penalizing him or Ferrari, thereby rejecting Aston Martin's protest.

Despite this setback for the Silverstone outfit, driver Fernando Alonso finds himself starting in an impressive third position after the qualifying sessions, despite a challenging start.

"Sector One I had a moment in Turns One and Two and I nearly lost the car. Then I said 'OK, I keep going or abort the lap' because I lost two-tenths in two corners."

Alonso's perseverance paid off, and he was able to secure a strong starting position for the race. He shared his satisfaction with the improvements made to his racing green machinery since the Sprint, highlighting the team's continuous efforts to seek performance.

"We didn't give up and kept on pushing through the lap and set a good lap time. The car improved since the Sprint. We made a few setup changes, let's see if we can convert that into points," Alonso explained.

However, the weekend was not without its frustrations for Alonso, who faced a penalty following a sprint race incident with Sainz, resulting in a time penalty and points on his super license. The veteran driver expressed his dissatisfaction with the decision, indicating a broader concern about the consistency and repercussions of racing sanctions.

"These sanctions are not understood and I do not share them, especially in the case of license points," Alonso remarked.

The Chinese Grand Prix not only marked F1's return to China after a five-year hiatus but has given us an exciting race week so far. If it continues this way, we'll be in for an exciting Grand Prix tomorrow.