The FIA Court of Appeal has rejected Haas’ attempt to overturn Romain Grosjean’s exclusion from the Italian Grand Prix.
After finishing sixth in the race at Monza, Renault protested the floor on the Frenchman’s car with the governing body agreeing it contravened a regulation on the minimum surface area of parts on the leading edges of the reference plane.
Later, it was claimed a technical directive had been sent from the FIA on this subject and all teams had until the Italian race to comply, however, Haas argued that their operation would not be able to develop the parts to meet that deadline.
Hitting back at Renault’s protest, team boss Guenther Steiner claimed the French manufacturer had broken a gentleman’s agreement on the matter and had only taken the decision to protest because they were struggling to beat Haas on the track.
After the appeal was heard on Thursday, however, on Friday, it was confirmed the disqualification would remain in place costing Haas eight points in their battle with Renault for fourth in the Constructors’ Championship.
In addition, two strong weekends for the Enstone team in Austin and Mexico now means 30 points separate the two teams in Renault’s favour with just two races left to go.
More details are likely to emerge in the coming days.
