F1 News: Team forced into FIA APPEAL to race at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

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Saudi Arabia GP

F1 team forced into FIA APPEAL to race at Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

A heavy crash in practice meant the car could not set a valid time in qualifying

Tyler Rowlinson

Saturday 9 March 2024 17:42

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Stake F1 Team Kick Sauber have been forced to appeal to the FIA to grant permission for Zhou Guanyu to start the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Max Verstappen took his second pole of the season in Jeddah on Friday, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc accompanying him on the front row and Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez lining up third.

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But it was another disastrous qualifying for Stake as both cars were knocked out in Q1 for the second race in a row.

Zhou Guanyu crashed heavily in FP3 and the damage done to his car meant that the mechanics could only get him out of the garage to set a time in qualifying with minutes to go.

Zhou Guanyu crashed heavily in FP3 in Jeddah

Sauber appeal to FIA

The Chinese driver missed the line to set a hot lap by mere seconds, meaning that he failed to register a time.

As a result, the team were forced to appeal to the stewards to let Zhou start the race, despite not setting a qualifying time within 107% of the fastest time set in Q1 – that coming from Verstappen.

The Chinese driver will start the race after an successful appeal

After hearing the appeal from Stake F1 team, the stewards granted permission for car 24 – Zhou Guanyu – to start the race as he had set satisfactory lap times during practice in Jeddah, in accordance with Article 39.4 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations.

The car will be placed on the grid in accordance with Article 42.1 of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations and will start the race in last place.