P1racenews AI automatic summary:
FIA dismisses Aston Martin protest over China F1 qualifying
Aston Martin filed a protest after Ferrari’s Sainz’s off-track incident, but he managed to continue after a red flag was triggered due to being stationary on track for over a minute. Despite Article 39.6 stating that a driver cannot rejoin after stopping on track, Sainz advanced to Q3 after repairs. This decision pushed out Aston’s Stroll from advancing. The stewards dismissed Aston’s protest citing past examples of discretion in applying the rule. Ambiguity over what defines a “stop” has been a topic of past discussions among teams and the FIA. The stewards highlighted the lack of consensus on time limits for being considered “stopped” and left the decision to race control.
