Renault will bid to get its race suspension from this weekend’s European Grand Prix overtuned today as it takes its case to the FIA’s International Court of Appeal.
The Enstone-based squad was hit with a one-race ban by Hungarian Grand Prix stewards last month after the right-front wheel came off Fernando Alonso’s car and bounced across the grass on the Spaniard’s out lap from his pit stop.
Stewards ruled that Renault had “knowingly released” Alonso back out onto the track without one of the retaining devices for the wheel nut being properly secured and subsequently failed to warn its driver or take any action that could prevent the wheel working loose.
Renault swiftly lodged an appeal against the decision and on Monday senior personnel from the team will appear before the appeal court in Paris to state the team's case for why it should be allowed to compete in Valencia.
The ICA's decision is expected to be made public on Tuesday afternoon.
Should the ban not be lifted, then Spanish sporting superstar Fernando Alonso will be forced to sit out his country’s second home race of the season – a prospect that would be a major blow for event organisers and local fans.
An upholding of the suspension would also delay the debut of Renault’s replacement for Nelson Piquet Jr, with its test driver Romain Grosjean expected to be handed the second seat following Piquet’s acrimonious departure.
Renault’s Budapest incident came the day after Felipe Massa was struck on the helmet by an errant spring from another car, the Brazilian later undergoing successful surgery on life-threatening injuries which included a fractured skull and brain concussion.
The previous weekend promising young British driver Henry Surtees was killed in a Formula 2 race after being hit on the head by a loose wheel.
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