The FIA has confirmed a date has been set to hear an appeal over the result of the Italian Grand Prix, following a complaint from Audi.
The race took place on September 6, more than two months ago, and was won by Kimi Antonelli, who became the first Italian to win at Monza for 60 years despite starting from 17th on the grid. Antonelli's win was not under threat, nor were the podium finishes of George Russell in second and Max Verstappen in third, but the awarding of smaller points has been called into question by Audi.
Audi's complaint over Tsunoda's finish
Audi's complaint centres around Yuki Tsunoda, who finished 10th that day in the best result of his three-race spell filling in at Racing Bulls. He was driving for the team because Liam Lawson had been called up to the senior Red Bull outfit to cover for the injured Isack Hadjar.
Tsunoda was due to start the race 14th but went to take his place in the 15th grid slot on the wrong side of the track. He realised his error at the last moment and swerved to the other side of the grid, where he lined up in the 14th grid slot but at an odd angle.
Race director Rui Marques spotted it and, "out of an abundance of caution", ordered a second formation lap. Tsunoda then lined up in the correct place on the grid and went on to rise four places over the course of the grand prix to score a single point, ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto who finished 11th.
Stewards' decision and appeal
Audi submitted an appeal in the days after the race, arguing its position that the sporting regulations were not properly applied. Article B5.9.5 of the regs dictates that "any driver who caused an extra formation lap, and is then able to start the, or any subsequent, extra formation lap must enter the pit lane at the end of the lap and must start from the end of the pit lane".
If any driver then fails to follow that, the regulations state that the punishment is a stop-and-go penalty. The stewards decided against penalising Tsunoda, though, accepting the argument made by Racing Bulls that the race director was the one who caused the extra formation lap, because it was Marques' decision to do so.
The stewards went on to explain that they felt their hands were tied by the wording of the regulation. They argued that a driver would have to be aware that they were the cause of an extra formation lap in order to then start from the pit lane. In this case, no message was sent to either the team or the driver to say they had been the cause.
Court date set
They also suggested that the FIA might want to introduce a process to properly inform a team and driver that they have caused an extra formation lap, to prevent this scenario from happening again in the future. But Audi have pressed ahead with their appeal, in the hope of winning another world championship point if they are successful.
The FIA has confirmed that the International Court of Appeal will hear the case later this month in Paris on Wednesday, November 25, between the Las Vegas and Qatar Grands Prix. The ICA has already overturned one result this season, having reinstated the time penalties originally given to Pierre Gasly at the Monaco Grand Prix.
