Grosjean thrown out of results after Renault protest against Haas floor upheld; Haas to appeal; Ocon takes sixth, while Sirotkin claims 10th and first F1 point
Thursday 6 December 2018 10:48, UK
Romain Grosjean has been disqualified from sixth place in the Italian GP after the floor on his Haas car was ruled illegal.
Haas have announced their intention to appeal.
Force India drivers Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez are promoted a place apiece to sixth and seventh respectively, while Williams' Sergey Sirotkin moves in to 10th for his first F1 point.
Renault, who lodged the protest after Sunday's race, also move back ahead of Haas in to fourth place in the Constructors' Championship having originally dropped behind at Monza.
Speaking before the punishment was known, Haas team boss Guenther Steiner said of their rivals' protest: "I find it a bit bizarre."
What happened after the race had finished?
Renault lodged a protest with the stewards over what FIA race director Charlie Whiting said concerned "a small detail on the leading edge of the floor" on Grosjean's car.
Both teams were summoned to see the stewards, while the FIA's technical delegate examined Grosjean's car in parc ferme.
After a lengthy investigation, a statement said 'the reference plane of car number 08 is found not to be in compliance' with neither the regulations nor a subsequent technical directive issued in July, which teams had to comply with by Monza.
Grosjean was subsequently disqualified and the final Monza classification revised.
What did Haas do wrong?
The matter at the heart of Renault's protest centred around technical regulations concerning F1 floors.
In a detailed explanation of the situation, the FIA said it had previously emerged that the 'text of this Article was being applied differently by several different teams' and that a technical directive clarifying the issues was issued to all teams on July 25 ahead of the Hungarian GP.
The technical directive 'in essence gave the teams until the Grand Prix of Monza to comply with the clarification'.
In their defence to the stewards, Haas said they had contacted the FIA's technical chief, Nikolas Tombazis, to say that 'given the forthcoming summer break, we will endeavour to introduce this upgrade for the Singapore GP, but will be somewhat at the mercy of our suppliers so we would request some flexibility in this matter'.
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However, the FIA said that Tombazis had told the team's aerodynamics chief that 'while he understood their supply problem, that if the car was not corrected by Monza - that they would leave themselves open to protest by other teams'.
The stewards heard several further submissions from Haas' representatives on Sunday evening, but ultimately ruled against the American team.
'While the Stewards are also sympathetic to the difficulties of producing these parts, the Stewards noted that at least one other competitor was able to comply in the time provided," read the stewards' verdict.
'Further, it was made clear to the competitor from the outset that the FIA Technical Department did not consider their car to be in compliance, and further that they left themselves open to the circumstances they now find.
'It was therefore the obligation of the competitor to be in compliance, which they did not do.'
What changes after Grosjean's disqualification?
