Red Bull’s appeal against the Daniel Ricciardo disqualification will take place in Paris a week after the Bahrain grand prix, the FIA announced late on Friday.
“The decision will be published as soon as possible after the (April 14) hearing,” said the governing body in a statement. The hearing is an important one not only for Red Bull – pushing to recover from a disastrous 2014 pre-season – but also for the FIA as it governs the sport’s revolutionary regulations change.
Ricciardo was excluded by the stewards because a mandatory flow sensor fitted to his car showed that its Renault engine broke the new rule limiting fuel consumption. Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko told Auto Bild: “The sensors are not accurate enough and we will prove it.” The FIA warned not only Red Bull but also other teams – including Mercedes – that although their own data may have shown their fuel flow complying with the rules, the sensors needed to be recalibrated and obeyed.
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, adding that he backs the FIA, said that complying with the FIA in Australia cost the W05 “between half a second and a second” of additional laptime. If Red Bull wins the appeal, it might limit the FIA’s ability to effectively govern the fuel flow rules in 2014.
