Mercedes appeal against grid penalty for technical breach

Donington Park has not only been an exciting race for the Superstars Series, but it could also change the whole results we have seen so far on track.

After the UK round of the International Superstars Series, Audi issued a complaint against the flat floor and the bonnet of the works Mercedes C63 AMGs. The stewards had decided that, although the parts did not comply with the Superstars rules, there was no way to prove that the modifications had been done to improve the performances of the car.

In particular, the front splitter turned out to have extra support bases, which is not allowed by the technical rules, and the bonnet was found to be based on the 2011 model, whilst the homologated version of the Superstars C63 AMG is still in the 2009 configuration.

The decision of the stewards was a ten position drop in the Race 1 grid for both cars, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Thomas Biagi, but not losing any points from the British weekend.

Team Romeo Ferraris, who manage the track operations of the works Mercedes efforts, have appealed against the decision through RAC, as the race was held under its jurisdiction. Audi Sport Italia appealed against it as well, stating that the penalty was not hard enough. The penalty has been suspended as per the sporting law, waiting for the hearing to be held.

The situation could go as far as voiding this weekend’s races in Imola, as the race would be deeply changed by not handing the grid penalty to the two Mercedes cars, which already proved to be very quick around Imola in today’s Free Practice.

The matter is likely to be resolved after the end of the championship.