Lewis Hamilton’s advantage over Max Verstappen remains as Aston Martin withdraw appeal

Lewis Hamilton will keep his eight point lead over Max Verstappen in the driver standings after Aston Martin have formally withdrawn their appeal to overturn Sebastian Vettel’s disqualification from the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Earlier in the week, the team suffered a fresh blow after the FIA denied Aston Martin a right of review, however, the Silverstone-based team said they would consider its position.

Now. the team have decided to withdraw, believing the decision to pull out “on the basis that we believe doing so outweighs the benefits of it being heard,” with Hamilton keeping his second-place finish after being promoted to second thanks to the disqualification.

Vettel was hit with the penalty in the aftermath of the race, when he crossed the line second behind Esteban Ocon in Budapest, however, it was revealed Aston Martin failed to provide the required 1-litre fuel sample after the race.

After showing their intent to review, the team presented a case to stewards on Monday to try and overturn the decision, with the team saying data indicated that there was more than 1.0 litre of fuel in the car after the race – 1.74 litres according to their numbers.

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Aston Martin claimed that a “fuel system failure” led to them not having the required amount after the race, however, the FIA concluded the new evidence was “not relevant” to the requirement to provide 1.0 litre of fuel.

A new team statement reads: “Having considered our position and having noted the FIA stewards’ verdict that there was clear new evidence of a fuel system failure, we have nonetheless withdrawn our appeal on the basis that we believe doing so outweighs the benefits of it being heard.”

After the FIA decision, Otmar Szafnauer, CEO & team principal at Aston, said: “Sebastian drove brilliantly in Hungary and we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to show significant new evidence that we discovered since the race.

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