FIA issues verdict of Aston Martin’s appeal against Carlos Sainz and Ferrari in Shanghai qualifying. The FIA decided on Aston Martin's appeal against Carlos Sainz in China.

The Protest
In the late afternoon in Shanghai, Aston Martin had lodged an official protest with the International Federation regarding the incident in qualifying involving Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari. The Spanish driver had indeed caused a red flag during Q2 by stopping on the track, only to then resume, return to the track, and finish the session. The British team argued – according to Article 39.6 of the sporting regulations – that a car clearly stopped on the track should not be allowed to participate in the rest of the Qualifying.

The Decision
The issue was not easily resolved, so much so that the Federation decided to reject Aston Martin’s motion with a three-page document published over three hours after the protest, at 9:20 p.m. local time. Multiple points were addressed by the Commissioners in their explanation.

While confirming that a car “stopped” on the track during Qualifying should not take part in the rest of the session, in the past, this rule has not been enforced. Indeed, several times a car that managed to restart “within a reasonable time” – usually about 30 seconds – then continued to participate in the rest of Qualifying. It is noted that “teams in the past have tried to reach an agreement on the definition of a reasonable time, but without reaching an agreement.”

The Federation emphasized the importance of the crashed car not receiving any external assistance to restart, for example, from track marshals. However, Aston Martin contested how Sainz’s restart occurred 1 minute and 17 seconds later: a time considered acceptable by the FIA precisely due to the lack of clear indications in the regulations or of an agreed and established practice, which at that point becomes the responsibility of the Race Director. Past incidents in Canada, Monaco, and Baku were listed of cars that were “stopped” but then resumed the rest of Qualifying without complaints from other teams.

Another curiosity: the document highlighted how in July 2023 the conclusion was reached to add the clause of “external assistance” to Article 39.6, but also that the modification was not actually made to the relevant rule, despite the agreement reached among the teams.

Taking all this into account, the FIA decided to consider consistent the Race Director’s decision to allow Carlos Sainz to participate in the rest of Qualifying, and thus, he will start seventh in tomorrow’s Chinese Grand Prix.