In post-race scrutineering checks, the FIA was only able to get 0.3 liters of fuel out of the car, even though the regulations stipulate that one liter should remain in the tank for sampling. This led to Vettel’s disqualification from the Hungarian race results.
The team believes that 1.74 liters of fuel should have been in the car, leaving 1.44 liters in the system that the FIA was unable to retrieve.
Vettel had stopped two corners after the end of the in-lap after the race after having a problem with the lift fuel pump that the team believes. It also believes the pump failure could explain why the fuel was not found.
The car will be confiscated overnight in the FIA box in Budapest and after the car has been transported to an FIA technical plant in France on Monday, further work will be carried out to find the missing fuel.
The intent to appeal actually saves time and allows the team to review their case before formally deciding to proceed with the appeal.
“I can confirm an intention to appeal,” said team principal Otmar Szafnauer to Motorsport.com. “So as soon as we learn more, if we have reasons we will appeal, and if not, we will drop it. But we have 96 hours.
“According to all our calculations, after the 300 milliliter sample has been taken, 1.44 liters of fuel should remain in the car.
“And we just have to show the FIA that it was inside, and 300 milliliters are enough for their fuel sample. And that will be the basis of the calling.
“So the car is confiscated. So let’s just go in, find the fuel, and measure it. We’ll think of something. “
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR21
Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images
Regarding the suction pump failure, he said, “It looks like we haven’t taken it apart yet. But for some reason the suction pumps weren’t pulling the fuel out of the car. “
The team can calculate how much fuel is in the car because they know how much fuel has been used before the start and because the FIA fuel flow meter provides an accurate official record of fuel consumption during the race.
“We measure the fuel that comes in,” says Szafnauer. “And the fuel flow meter prescribed by the FIA that we have in the car measures how much fuel is being used.
“So the difference between what went in and what is used is what is left. And so we know that there are 1.74 liters left.
“We have that, the FIA works right down to the fuel flow meter, they have all this data, we give them the data about how much fuel we put in, they can check it at any time. So all of this data is available. “
The problem for the team is that the regulations clearly state that one liter of fuel has to be physically removed from the car, noted Szafnauer: “This is an old rule that goes back to the days before we had all these measurements and all measurements . “
