Haas has withdrawn the appeal it brought after losing its case against Force India at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The stewards rejected the team’s claim Force India did not meet the definition of a ‘constructor’ as required by the sporting regulations. Haas gave notice of its intention to appeal the decision, which had to be done within 96 hours of the verdict being issued on Saturday morning.However on Wednesday the team issued a brief statement on social media confirming it will not take its appeal forward. “Haas F1 Team has elected not to appeal the decision of the FIA Stewards (UAE Document 20 – Haas Protest Decision) following the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, November 22-25 2018,” it announced.
Team principal Guenther Steiner said in Abu Dhabi the purpose of the protest was to ensure F1’s rules had been applied consistently when Haas entered F1 in 2016 and when Force India entered as a new constructor under the ownership of Racing Point earlier this year. The matter has a bearing on how much prize money the teams receive.
Steiner said Haas made several attempts to clarify the situation with Formula One Management since Force India returned to the championship having gone into administration over the summer break, but did not receive a response. This prompted their decision to protest in Abu Dhabi.
Sunday’s race result was originally listed as being provisional “subject to the outcome of any appeal against the decision(s) of the stewards stipulated in Document 20”. The withdrawal of Haas’s appeal means the result and the championship points standings can now be considered final.
Read our full analysis of the implication of the Haas/Force India case in Dieter Rencken’s RacingLines column later today on RaceFans
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th November 2018, 8:00
I wonder if that means a settlement was arrived at?
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
28th November 2018, 8:34
I was under the impression that as FIA has now clarified RPFI is a new constructor, they will have to take the same medicine Haas took upon entering the sport with regards to Column 1 (I think) money, so mission accomplished as Haas get a bigger slice of the pie?
ColdFly (@)
28th November 2018, 8:42
I don’t think that FIA determines who gets Column 1 payments. That is something to do with FOM/Liberty and their contracts with the teams.
@fullcoursecaution, @phylyp
Yes Haas has its mission accomplished by defining RPFI as a new entrant.
Haas can now take that to any court to fight FOM to get the same treatment as RPFI is getting.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th November 2018, 8:48
@coldfly @fullcoursecaution – agreed that the financial payment is not within the FIA’s remit.
However, bear me out. I feel Liberty might have stepped in to settle with Haas, after seeing the FIA ruling, rather than have a protracted court battle that will have Haas on firmer footing. “There’s no such thing as bad news” might be applicable for publicity, but not for the health of FWONK.
mrfill
28th November 2018, 10:02
If Liberty have stepped in and bunged Haas a few million to shut up, the problem only goes away until the next ‘new’ team appears, when the whole argument comes up again.
I’m still hugely confused when it comes to the FI website which has a clear copyright notice saying (c) Force India Formula One Team Ltd 2018. That company is still in existence but in administration and has the old board still active. Within the site it claims ‘We are Racing Point Force India’ – so why are they relying on a different company to protect their copyright? All very shady.
BlackJackFan
28th November 2018, 17:57
I feel sure we haven’t heard the last of this…
Jere (@jerejj)
28th November 2018, 10:27
That’s a good move by them. Finally, they’ve learned something.
nase
28th November 2018, 10:55
@jerejj
I think you’re misinterpreting this. Haas knew what they were doing. They got exactly what they wanted (even though their protest was dismissed, but that was precisely its purpose). They probably announced their intention to appeal the decision for the sole purpose of buying themselves some time to analyse it and make sure there aren’t any implications they’ve missed. But there aren’t (or so it seems). Thus, no reason to appeal the decision. They weren’t on the verge of making a mistake or anything, before they finally thought better of it. They simply did what they had to do in order to defend their interests.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th November 2018, 11:09
nase – good comment.
I’d not thought of this, but reading your comment it seems to make a lot of sense.