(Motorsports news) Aston Martin objected to the qualifying outcome in Shanghai after Carlos Sainz of Ferrari returned to the race after spinning off the track.
After slamming into the wall as he emerged from the last circuit, Sainz was stopped for 1:17, but he was able to restart and pass Aston driver Lance Stroll to reach Q3.
Article 39.6 of the F1 sporting regulations, which states that “any driver whose car stops on the track during the qualifying session or the sprint qualifying session shootout will not be permitted to take any further part in that session,” is the basis on which Aston chose to protest the results after its driver was eliminated.
The rule is only meant for cars that rejoin a qualifying session after receiving outside assistance from marshals or recovery trucks, so the stewards rejected the protest because Sainz continued on his own initiative.
However, the event reignited the debate about cleaning up the rulebook, since it was earlier decided that the outside aid element be included to 39.6, even though it was left out of the athletic regulations for 2024.
Performance director of Aston Martin Tom McCullough said, “It’s just clarifying things and in the end, a lot of discussion with the stewards and you’ve got to respect the decisions they’ve come to.”
However, because it’s quite plainly mentioned in the messaging system that the car stopped, perhaps things will get straightened out and become less confusing moving forward.
“According to that article, the car shouldn’t compete in qualifying any further. Thus, that will be cleaned up moving forward.
Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur concurred that additional clarity is desirable to prevent misunderstandings, noting that the rules governing Formula One racing had grown increasingly intricate.
“I don’t know if it’s clear, but for sure we need to have some understanding of what’s happened,” said Vasseur.
“We asked the race director if we could go back, and he said that we could, which meant the narrative was over. We must precisely define the circumstances.
“However, it is undeniably true that regulations are becoming increasingly intricate. The sporting regulation was 20 pages when I started working there; now it is 75 pages.
“We are all trying to find a loophole and the regulations are now more and more complicated, but on this one we will find an easy clarification.”
According to McCullough, as soon as Sainz’s car stopped on the course, Aston’s longtime sporting director Andy Stevenson pointed out the possible rule violation.
“Andy, who sits next to me on the pit wall, is like an encyclopedia—he knows every guideline inside and out. He’s spent so much time here,” McCullough remarked.
“He said, ‘Article 39.6, he can’t [rejoin],’ as soon as he saw that a car had stopped on the official message system.
“We were a little bit surprised, which is why [we protested].”
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