F1: Vettel Provisionally Reinstated To P2 Pending Appeal

Sebastian Vettel's valiant P2 was undone post the Hungarian GP when the stewards found that his car had committed a fuel violation. He was disqualified from the race, though Aston Martin has appealed the decision which grants him his P2 back, provisionally, pending the appeal.

The regulations state that drivers must have 1 litre of fuel remaining in the tank at the end of the race for testing and since there wasn't enough fuel left in Aston Martin AMR21, the four-time world champion was disqualified. Apparently, only 0.3 litres of fuel was extracted from the car.

"After the race it was not possible to take a one litre sample of fuel from car 5. The team was given several opportunities to attempt to remove the required amount of fuel from the tank, however it was only possible to pump 0.3 litres out," said the stewards.

"During the hearing in presence of the FIA Technical Delegate and the FIA Technical Director, the team principal of Aston Martin stated that there must be 1.44 litres left in the tank, but they are not able to get it out. The figure is calculated using the FFM or injector model," explained the report.

Sebastian Vettel also came P2 in Baku

"Given this situation, car No.5 is not in compliance with the requirements of Art. 6.6 FIA Technical Regulations. According to Art. 6.2.2 competitors must ensure that a 1.0-litre sample of fuel may be taken from the car at any time. The procedure was followed however the 1.0-litre sample of fuel was unable to be taken," added the report stating that for some reason the

"The stewards determine to apply the standard penalty for technical infringements. Therefore they took into account, that it shall be no defence to claim that no performance advantage was obtained," the report concluded.

But since the team felt that it has 1.44 litres of fuel still in the car, it has appealed the disqualification and if it is able to take out the fuel, Vettel will be handed back his P2. If not there will be huge ramifications for the title fight as Lewis Hamilton will gain 3 more points while Carlos Sainz will also improve his tally of points which will give Ferrari an edge in the constructor's title over McLaren.