Spyker has welcomed the FIA Court of Appeal’s decision to uphold the penalty against Vitantonio Liuzzi in the Japanese Grand Prix for overtaking Adrian Sutil under yellow flags.
The 25-second time penalty demoted Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Liuzzi from eighth to ninth place, handing Sutil and Spyker their maiden world championship point. ITV.com
The FIA said on Saturday in a press release that its court of appeal upheld the original verdict from race stewards to punish Toro Rosso driver Vitantonio Liuzzi with a 25-second time penalty for overtaking the Spyker driver Sutil during a yellow-flag phase in the September 30 race in Fuji.
Passing other drivers is prohibited during the yellow flag signalling danger on the course, normally after a crash. BangkokPost
Toro Rosso initially celebrated what they thought was their first point of the season when Liuzzi came home eighth, but within a few hours, stewards imposed a 25-second penalty on Liuzzi for apparently overtaking under yellow flag conditions on lap 55.
The sanction resulted in Liuzzi dropping out of the points-scoring positions, with Sutil promoted. UKPress
STR team boss Franz Tost said on Saturday: “Obviously we are disappointed, but we accept the decision of the court.
“Now, all our attention is fixed on next weekend’s final round of the season in Brazil, where we hope to build on the good form the team has shown in recent races and try and win some more points on the track.”
STR’s disappointment over the penalty will doubtless have been assuaged by its best ever result last time out in Shanghai, where it scored eight points to vault ahead of Spyker, Super Aguri and Honda into seventh place in the constructors’ championship. ITV.com
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