The FIA has dismissed the Haas team’s Right of Review regarding alleged violations of track limits during the US GP last month.
The Haas team’s Right of Review regarding presumed track limit infractions during the US GP in Austin last month has been rejected by the FIA. The stewards from the governing body, however, have demanded that a solution should be figured out by 2024.
Haas filed a petition with the FIA last week seeking a right of review regarding the alleged violations that multiple drivers allegedly committed at COTA’s Turn 6, which the US GP stewards failed to look into.
Haas asserted that it had fresh evidence, including onboard video, to support its allegations. The video featured individual references regarding Alex Albon, Logan Sargeant, Sergio Perez, and Lance Stroll.
The CCTV cameras at Turn 6 were positioned in a way that made it difficult to see the alleged track limit violations, as the FIA had initially noted. The stewards present at the location decided not to keep an eye on the turn at all.
Haas disapproved of this explanation and consequently the squad petitioned the FIA for an investigation.
Teams bosses from Haas, Red Bull, Williams and Aston Martin as well as representatives from Ferrari and McLaren, appeared in the virtual hearing which was originally scheduled to begin on Wednesday but was postponed to Thursday.
Haas presented on-board footage from Sargeant, Albon, Perez and Stroll all of whom were purportedly seen repeatedly exceeding track limits at Turn 6, along with footage from cars following Albon around the turn.
The Austin stewards, who were also present at the hearing, came to the conclusion that the team had previously been given access to the videos when the original stewards made their decisions on Sunday night, despite Haas’ claim to the contrary.
Albon was cleared and eventually the race classification was confirmed. As a result, the FIA panel denied Haas’ request, bringing the case to an end. The team would ultimately have been entitled to a second hearing to reconsider the race outcome if the FIA had determined that Haas’ evidence qualified for a right of review.
The stewards acknowledged that the on-board footage from Albon’s car contained significant evidence against the Williams driver, but they also pointed out that Haas had access to it, so it wasn’t brand-new or pertinent.
Also considering that Haas had access to the other three submitted elements already and they were neither new nor relevant, they were also regarded as insignificant.
As a result, the Petition for the Right of Review was denied because Haas was not in possession of any fresh materials or pertinent information at the time of the original ruling.
“The stewards find their inability to properly enforce the current standard for track limits for all competitors completely unsatisfactory and therefore strongly recommend to all concerned that a solution to prevent further re-occurrences of this widespread problem be rapidly deployed,” said the hearing statement.
“Whether the problem is properly addressed by better technology solutions, track modifications, a combination thereof, or a different regulation and enforcement standard, the stewards leave to those better positioned to make such assessments.
“However, based on the timing of this decision, it is clear that a complete solution cannot, as a matter of practicality, happen this year.
“But given the number of different circuits where significant track limit issues arose this season, acknowledging that the FIA in conjunction with the circuits have already made significant strides, further solutions should be found before the start of the 2024 season.”
It’s interesting to note that despite Haas’ hearing culminating to rejection, the stewards made it apparent how unsatisfactory the FIA’s inability to properly enforce track limits, or more specifically F1’s track limits dilemma, was at the time. This statement struck many as an indictment of the stewards themselves.
