Listen to Pit Talk here ><\/a><\/p>\nMercedes boss Toto Wolff revealed last weekend that he was taking legal advice on the decision before the team eventually confirmed its intention to appeal, but he said he was pessimistic that a challenge would be successful.<\/p>\n
\u201cA drive-through, if it didn\u2019t happen at the end, is equivalent of 20 seconds race time,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cWhat would 20 seconds race time have meant for his result?<\/p>\n
\u201cDo we think that we realistically have a position, a chance of reverting the result? I don\u2019t think so, but we definitely have to give it a go if we see that there is a millimetre of chance to do so and bring him back to whatever it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n
His comments \u2014 although made before the challenge was confirmed \u2014 suggests Mercedes will attempt to use Gasly\u2019s case as a precedent to argue for restitution for Russell. However, the FIA has noted the review to be heard this weekend relates specifically the ruling on Gasly\u2019s penalties.<\/p>\n
The situation is further confused by both McLaren and Red Bull Racing taking the Gasly decision to the FIA International Court of Appeal, the highest tribunal in world motorsport.<\/p>\n
If Mercedes\u2019s appeal were to result in Gasly\u2019s penalty being reinstated, it would be unclear where that would leave the court case, for which both teams will have already paid both a fee and a deposit worth \u20ac25,000 ($40,950).<\/p>\n
Drought Broken! Lewis’ 1st Ferrari win | 02:51<\/p>\n
TRIPLE HEADER FIRMING AS REINSTATEMENT OPTION FOR CALLED-OFF RACES<\/p>\n
Formula 1 will have to create a new triple-header spanning three continents if it is to reinstate one of the two Middle Eastern grands prix called off earlier this season.<\/p>\n
The Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix were due to be held in April but called off after United States and Israel strikes on Iran conflagrated into a regional conflict.<\/p>\n
However, neither race was definitively cancelled, and Liberty Media CEO Derek Chang told investors in May that it might be possible to reschedule one race toward the end of the season\u201d.<\/p>\n
The signing of a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran this week has sparked hope that the conflict could reach a definitive conclusion, with both sides now locked into a 60-day negotiating period to agree a peaceful resolution.<\/p>\n
The cessation of hostilities has already prompted Australia to lower its travel warnings for several Middle Eastern nations, including Bahrain.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali forecast earlier this year that it would be \u201cquite difficult\u201d to reinstate even one race because the calendar \u201cis already quite full\u201d, with only two realistic possibilities.<\/p>\n
The first would be to prolong the season, which is set to end with a triple-header comprising the Las Vegas (21 November), Qatar (29 November) and Abu Dhabi (6 December) grands prix.<\/p>\n
Qatar, however, says it would be unwilling to shift dates to accommodate more races.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation president Abdulrahman bin Abdullatif Al Mannai told The Athletic when asked if a change could be on the cars.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see it will shift, because we are really (only) before Abu Dhabi, which is the last round. I think it\u2019s really difficult to shift any dates right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Las Vegas, as a street venue, would be extremely unlikely to move, while Abu Dhabi pays for privilege of hosting the final race and has already booked entertainment acts and sold tickets for its designated weekend.<\/p>\n
Al Mannai\u2019s comments, then, strongly suggest that the only possible window to reschedule either the Bahrain or Saudi Arabian races is 2\u20134 October, the weekend between the Azerbaijan and Singapore grands prix.<\/p>\n
That window had already been already emerged as a likely frontrunner given the Baku and Marina Bay races used to be held on consecutive weekends, with the Middle East serving as a transport hub.<\/p>\n
The Azerbaijan Grand Prix is scheduled to take place on a Saturday this year owing to a local holiday on Sunday, which would give F1 a bigger logistical window to work with.<\/p>\n
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sualyem said a decision wasn\u2019t likely for \u201ca month or two\u201d, by which time the sport will be clearer on the likelihood of racing in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cLogistically you don\u2019t want to go on and then it\u2019s cancelled at the end of the day,\u201d he said, per The Athletic. \u201cBecause you have travel, (the) logistics of sending everyone there suddenly.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo us, in the FIA, the protection of humans and the safeguarding, it\u2019s one of our priorities.\u201d<\/p>\n
If either race can be rescheduled, Bahrain is thought to be the more likely option as a permanent circuit that F1 knows well.<\/p>\n
Jeddah, though, is listed as safe for travel according to the UK foreign office, which could be decisive in F1\u2019s position.<\/p>\n
If neither can be held due to the situation in the Middle East, however, it would raise serious questions about whether the Qatar and Abu Dhabi grands prix could go ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Confusion over the Monaco Grand Prix podium result has deepened further after the FIA confirmed Mercedes\u2019s request to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":744124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-744123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=744123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/744123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/744124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=744123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=744123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=744123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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