Haas protest dismissed: Result remains final

Haas' protest against the result of the Australian Grand Prix has been rejected by the FIA. The team disagreed that the result was based on the grid from before the last restart. Had it been based on after this restart, Nico Hulkenberg would have finished on the podium for the first time in his career.

The FIA has rejected Haas' protest around the result of the Australian Grand Prix. Haas went into protest because the grid from before the final restart was taken as the basis for the final race result. The restart was hugely chaotic. Both Alpine drivers crashed with each other, Carlos Sainz tapped his compatriot into a spin and Lance Stroll outbraked himself and ended up in the gravel trap as a result. Nico Hulkenberg managed to avoid all incidents and was therefore fourth, before the red flag was waved again.

Hulkenberg was fourth behind Sainz. However, the Spaniard had caused a crash which made a penalty at that point plausible for Sainz, which he later received. Because of this penalty, Hulkenberg would have been classified third if the FIA had used the standings from after the restart for the final 'lap'. The FIA did not do this because, according to them, the grid from before the restart was the last possible moment to determine the standings. Haas went into protest over this, but the protest was rejected by the FIA.