Friday lunchtime hearing for Ferrari at Paul Ricard, with Scuderia expected to present 'new evidence' to stewards
Thursday 20 June 2019 20:10, UK
Ferrari's request to have Sebastian Vettel's race-losing Canadian GP penalty reviewed will be heard by stewards at the French GP on Friday.
The stewards who made the decision in Montreal will reconvene in France to hear from Ferrari representatives, who are expected to present new evidence in the case.
The hearing will be held at 1.15pm BST on Friday, between the day's two practice sessions.
"It's to open the case again and have another look," said Vettel when asked what Ferrari's intentions behind the challenge were.
"We bring some information that maybe the stewards didn't have at the time."
Stewards will determine whether there is sufficient evidence for the case to be fully reopened and the decision to penalise Vettel in his incident with Lewis Hamilton reviewed.
Ferrari submitted the 'right of review' under the International Sporting Code on Monday with the team having been adamant that Vettel did nothing wrong in the incident, which earned him a five-second time penalty.
Is newly-wed Vettel finally set for good news?
Sporting a wedding ring at his press conference on Thursday after marrying long-time partner Hanna last week, Vettel insisted he is not frustrated after seeing his wait for a win extend to 15 races in Montreal.
The four-time world champion claims he is not burdened by his lack of form heading into this weekend's French Grand Prix. The last of Vettel's four world titles came in 2013, and he already trails Hamilton by 62 points this time around.
But having not won since the Belgian GP last August, the German is looking forward to taking on Circuit Paul Ricard at Le Castellet.
When asked if he was feeling confident of getting back the championship points from Canada this weekend, he said: "We'll see. The track lay-out is a bit different here.
"Obviously, we know that our car is very competitive down the straights, we're lacking some grip around the corners, so we lose and gain depending on where we are on the track.
"But here we have a good mix of both. We have corners that highlight our weaknesses, equally we've brought some updates, and we have some parts to try and somethings on the list that we would like to tick.
"I think tomorrow will be an important day for us to see whether we can get the car trimmed in the right direction to make a step forward."
What is a 'right of review'
Ferrari have turned to the overarching International Sporting Code which governs all FIA championships to make their case against the stewards' Montreal decision.
Article 14 of the Code allows for a 'right of review' if the affected party can present stewards with fresh evidence which was not available at the time of the judgement.
The regulation states that can be brought if 'a significant and relevant new element is discovered which was unavailable to the parties seeking the review at the time of the Competition concerned, whether or not the stewards have already given a ruling'.
But it is at the stewards' discretion whether the so-called evidence fits the above criteria and the case should be reopened. Friday's hearing will determine whether this is the case.
"The stewards shall have the sole discretion to determine if a significant and relevant new element exists," read the regulations.
"The decision of the stewards as to whether or not such an element exists is not subject to appeal before the national court of appeal or the International Court of Appeal."
Should a formal reviewed be called, the regulations add: "These stewards or, failing this, those designated by the FIA, must meet (in person or by other means) on a date agreed amongst themselves, summoning the party or parties concerned to hear any relevant explanations and to judge in the light of the facts and elements brought before them."
Should they rule that the original decision was incorrect, stewards can issue a new ruling.
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