(Reuters) – Formula One stewards will hold a virtual hearing on April 18 to decide whether there are grounds for reviewing a penalty that stripped Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz of points in the Australian Grand Prix.
The governing FIA said in a statement that Spaniard Sainz and Ferrari representatives had been asked to attend the hearing.
FIA head of single seaters Nikolas Tombazis asked the stewards to consider Ferrari’s request for a review of the five-second penalty and decide whether or not there was a “significant and relevant new element”.
If they decide there is such an element, they will convene another hearing to re-open the investigation into the Albert Park incident.
Outcomes would range from keeping the penalty unchanged, imposing a different one or overturning it altogether.
The penalty, after a collision with Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso at the final re-start, dropped Sainz from fourth to 12th and left Ferrari with a scoring blank after Charles Leclerc retired on the opening lap.
There were no consequences for Alonso, with the race red flagged and the order returned to the previous starting grid before drivers followed the safety car to the finish.
The double world champion took the chequered flag in third place for the third race in a row.
Ferrari submitted the request for review last week. They have not said what the significant, new and relevant element is.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
