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Red Bull and Mercedes have been summoned to see the F1 stewards in Hungary after Red Bull launched “a petition for review” for Lewis Hamilton’s British GP penalty.
Hamilton collided with title rival Max Verstappen at the Copse corner on the opening lap of the Silverstone race, with the Dutchman retiring on the spot and Hamilton going on to win the race despite a 10-second penalty.
Red Bull was fuming with Hamilton and his Mercedes team in the aftermath of the race, and made it clear it viewed the penalty as “lenient”, while opening the door to a potential challenge.
It has now come out that Red Bull has indeed requested a review on Friday the week after the race.
Red Bull and Mercedes have now received summons to a stewards hearing which will take place at 4pm local time on Thursday, July 29.
The FIA’s international sporting code does allow a right to review, but requires that “a significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the preview at the time of the decision concerned.”
Red Bull has applied for the right to review within the permitted 14 days, meaning the stewards will now convene to consider whether what Red Bull submits qualifies as new information. If not, it will be rejected, but if it is accepted then the stewards can re-open the investigation.
Alfa Romeo was the last team to pursue this, successfully leading to a fresh hearing into the 30-second time penalty that cost Kimi Raikkonen ninth place at Imola but without the penalty being revised.
Ferrari made the highest-profile attempt of recent times to seek a right of review after Sebastian Vettel lost victory in the 2019 Canadian Grand Prix to a five-second penalty for rejoining unsafely, but this was not accepted as none of the submitted evidence qualified.
In order to constitute new information, it must be tangible, fresh data or information unavailable to the stewards at the time rather than new analysis or disagreement with the penalty.
The FIA’s international sporting code does allow a right to review, but requires that “a significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the parties seeking the preview at the time of the decision concerned”.
Red Bull has applied for the right to review within the permitted 14 days, meaning the stewards will now convene either in person or remotely to consider whether what Red Bull submits qualifies as new information.
If not, it will be rejected, but if it is accepted then the stewards can re-open the investigation.
