F1 News: FIA To Bring In Rule Change Following Haas' Austin GP Appeal

The FIA is set to tighten the right of review option.

Following Haas' appeal regarding alleged track limit violations at the Austin Grand Prix, the FIA is poised to modify its regulations to make the process more stringent and also enable Formula 1 teams to reconsider once before pursuing an appeal. 

A fee will be levied to the otherwise no-charge appeal system, and the time period to appeal for a review will be limited from the current 14-day period to four days. The plan for rule changes was discussed much before Haas' appeal that was rejected last week.

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The current year has witnessed an increase in review requests from teams such as Ferrari in Australia, McLaren in Austria, and Aston Martin in Jeddah. The governing body meanwhile plans to address the increasing review requests by pushing the teams to think twice before appealing. 

The FIA looks forward to making changes to the International Sporting Code as well as its own judicial rules for 2024, pending approval at the Annual General Assembly in December. It is important to note that the changes will apply to all FIA competitions and not just Formula 1. 

Initially, there was no time restriction on submitting a right of review request which allowed a team to potentially dispute the outcome of a race conducted months prior. This duration was subsequently amended to 14 days, which Haas utilized fully to compile its evidence.

The proposed adjustment is to reduce the window to 96 hours from the conclusion of the event. However, under special circumstances, stewards will retain the authority to extend the deadline to 120 hours.

The current appeal filing fee, set at €6,000 will be implemented. This fee will only be reimbursed if the stewards uphold the right of review. In addition, changes will be made to the way the appeal system works.

A challenge with the existing system is that teams can submit a notice of intention to appeal and then have four days to decide if they want to pursue the matter with a formal appeal. However, a notice of intention to appeal can suspend a penalty. 

As a result, if a driver's grid penalty is deleted by a notice of intention to appeal, the team could then withdraw from the appeal process without having to formally proceed with the case.

But, going forward, if the notice of appeal is withdrawn, the case will still be forwarded to the International Court of Appeal, and the team in question may face penalties if it is determined that they benefited from the procedure.

Currently, there is no requirement to pay a fee unless the team opts to proceed with the appeal. Going forward, the fee must be paid in advance, concurrent with the notice of intention to appeal.