Stewards dismiss Aston Martin's request for review of Vettel's Hungarian GP disqualification

Aston Martin have failed in their bid to have Sebastian Vettel's disqualification from the Hungarian Grand Prix reviewed by the stewards.

Vettel finished second on track at the Hungaroring, but was subsequently disqualified when the FIA were unable to take the required 1.0 litre fuel sample from his car following the race, as per the technical regulations.

After the ruling, the team immediately said they would appeal, while also seeking a 'right of review' in order to try to reverse the decision.

On Monday afternoon the stewards heard from team boss Otmar Szafnauer, Chief Technical Officer Andrew Green and Sporting Director Andy Stevenson to hear the team's case. Under F1's rules, in order to secure a right to review, the team must show "significant and relevant new" evidence to the stewards.

After the hearing the FIA revealed that Aston Martin had discovered that a faulty fuel pump meant a "significant amount of fuel was inadvertently discharged from the fuel cell of Car 5" meaning FIA personnel could only extract 0.3 litres.

This was accepted as 'new evidence' but in their decision document, the stewards said it was irrelevant why there was less than 1.0 litres of fuel in the car - writing that in order to secure a right of review, "Aston Martin would have had to present facts that actually more than 1 litre of fuel was remaining. The explanation why this requirement could not be met is not relevant to the decision as to whether a breach of the regulations has occurred."

Therefore the officials dismissed the request for a right of review, which means Vettel's disqualification from the race stands pending further appeal from Aston Martin, which the team say they are still considering.

“Sebastian drove brilliantly in Hungary and we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to show significant new evidence that we discovered since the race," said Otmar Szafnauer, Aston Martin Team Principal.

"We felt that the evidence we presented was relevant and demonstrated to the FIA that he should have been reinstated following his disqualification.

"Unfortunately, the FIA took a different view and, despite the fact that that the accuracy of our new evidence was not contested, Sebastian’s disqualification has been upheld on the basis that the new evidence was not deemed ‘relevant’. That is disappointing, and we will now consider our position in respect of the full appeal process.”