Recently, we saw it during Fernando Alonso’s penalty, the FIA received Haas team’s protest request 24 minutes outside the deadline. However, the claim was still received and judged. Why?
Teams can indeed file a complaint with the race stewards during each Formula 1 Grand Prix. This is usually done to address concerns regarding the safety or legality of competitors, with the aim of downgrading or disqualifying them.
The process is simple. The team making the claim must do so within a 30-minute timeframe, once the provisional rankings of the Grand Prix are given to the teams.
File a complaint.
The international sports code of the FIA, and not the Formula 1 sporting regulations, is applied in this case.
He specifies in paragraphs 13.3.5 and 13.3.6 that the teams have deadlines to respect regarding: « Any alleged error, alleged irregularity, or alleged violation of the regulations occurring during a Competition » as well as regarding « the alleged non-compliance of the Cars with the governing regulations ».
In this case, the deadline is therefore « at the latest thirty minutes after the posting of the Provisional rankings », nevertheless exceptions are taken into account. Indeed, the regulations specify:
except:
– dans les cas où les commissaires sportifs considèrent que le délai de trente minutes serait
Impossible to comply with – in case of technical issue related to the display board (article)
11.9.4 of the Code),
or
– indication contraire dans le règlement sportif applicable ou dans le Règlement Particulier »
The FIA can therefore judge a protest even if it is submitted late if the stewards deem it necessary.
The regulation also specifies that a claim is unique for each manufacturer, even if multiple manufacturers make the same claim, it cannot therefore be joint.
The request must be made to the FIA in writing with:
– la règlementation concernée,
– le problème soulevé par la partie présentant la réclamation, et
– contre qui la réclamation est présentée, le cas échéant.
During this request, a deposit is required from the team and if the request is deemed inadmissible by a judgment (outside the regulatory framework), it will be retained by the FIA. In the event it is admissible, the FIA takes responsibility for the judgment and returns the deposit. The amount is defined each year.
The hearing of the claim and the judgment.
If the FIA receives the complaint, both parties will have to be heard in order to establish the facts by listening to the parties involved. Once the hearings are conducted, as soon as possible after the complaint, the FIA judges and gives its decision based on the current regulations but also on previous decisions made by the FIA regarding similar facts.
The team that filed a complaint can still reconsider it through the “Right of Revision” and decide to withdraw their complaint.
The FIA can also rule the claim to be baseless and request for the bond deposited by the claiming team to be retained.
If the claim is deemed accepted, a penalty may be imposed and the team in question may also appeal this decision by submitting new information.
