Red Bull, Aston Martin, Williams summoned as FIA set date for extraordinary race review
Who will come out on top this year at the Circuit of The Americas?
The FIA has summoned representatives from Red Bull, Aston Martin, and Williams, following Haas petitioning for a right to review the US GP.
The FIA has confirmed a petition for a Right of Review of the United States Grand Prix has been lodged by the Haas F1 team, meaning representatives from Red Bull, Aston Martin, Williams, and Haas will all be summoned before the stewards on Wednesday.
The virtual hearing of the stewards will be held via video conference on Wednesday, November 8th, at 3pm CET, with representatives from each of the summoned teams mandated to appear – other interested parties can also attend after seeking permission of the stewards.
Haas seek right to review US GP race result following track limits incidents
Haas, who finished their home race in 11th and 14th places with Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, respectively, have lodged a request for a right to review the classification of the race due to the uncovering of various track limits breaches during the race that went without punishment.
Track limits have been a constant headache for the stewards in 2023, particularly at the likes of circuits like Austria and Qatar, due to tarmac run-off areas behind the kerbs. But the issue doesn’t appear to have been enforced as strongly during the United States Grand Prix, despite footage emerging after the race of drivers blatantly cutting inside the white lines at some corners, or running wide out of others.
The drivers allegedly involved are Williams’ Alex Albon, Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, and Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll – although the FIA’s summons documents currently only directly refer to Albon’s car, despite summons being issued for all four teams.
The grounds under which the Haas team are seeking the Right to Review are in the FIA’s International Sporting Code, Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 (c), which states: “Drivers must use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.”
The grounds also include Article 33.3 of the 2023 FIA F1 Sporting Regulations, which state: “Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not leave the track without a justifiable reason.
“Drivers will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.”
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Wednesday’s hearing will be split in two parts, with the first part being to hear evidence as to whether or not there is a “significant and relevant new element which was unavailable to the party seeking the Review at the time of the Decision concerned.”
Should the stewards find that such new evidence does exist, meaning Haas’ petition is upheld, a second part to the Hearing will be convened in order to continue the investigation into the final race result of the United States Grand Prix.
Given that footage emerged following the race of drivers exceeding track limits without punishment, it’s likely at this point that Haas could be successful in their petition. However, given how far ahead Perez and Stroll were on track, it’s likely that Albon is the driver in Haas’ crosshairs – the Williams driver was 3.2 seconds ahead of Hulkenberg at the chequered flag.
Even a single five-second penalty would thus demote him out of the points, and hand a point to Hulkenberg – potentially crucial as they attempt to catch Alfa Romeo for ninth place in the Constructors’ Championship with two race weekends remaining. Haas currently sit on 12 points, with Alfa Romeo on 16.
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