Court found discrepancies in Red Bull's own fuel models; ICA ruled teams can't rely on software; World Champion's actions considered "not fraudulent" but team ordered to pay hearing costs; Merc wanted Red Bull banned for three races
Saturday 19 April 2014 11:38, UK
The FIA has released the full reasoning behind the International Court of Appeal's decision to uphold Daniel Ricciardo's Australian GP disqualification, with the body having ruled that it "does not find any element" to prove Red Bull's defence case.
Nonetheless, the verdict made clear that "considering the technical issues at stake and the fact that this was the first official race under this new technology, the Court does not find that the Appellant's attitude in Australia was fraudulent". The hearing document also confirmed that Mercedes, which was one of five of Red Bull's rivals to send representatives to the hearing, had asked in their written submissions for the court to impose "a more severe sanction of a ban of no less than three races, plus a disqualification for a further 6 months, suspended for a year" on the World Champions. As the defeated party, Red Bull were ordered to pay the full costs of the hearing.
