Vinantonio Liuzzi was handed a 25 second penalty by the Japanese race stewards last weekend after it was deemed he overtook Adrian Sutil under yellow flag conditions. This meant that he was a demoted a place and Toro Rosso lost their only point of the season to the Spyker team. Toro Rosso informed the stewards of their intent to appeal, and it has been confirmed by team boss Franz Tost that the appeal will be going ahead next Friday, 12th October.
The case will be held in front of the FIA s International Court of Appeal in Paris and Tost is confident that the penalty will be overturned. His argument rests on the fact that no green flags were waved by the marshals therefore is was unclear to the drivers where the yellow flag zone ended.
“It is quite obvious and totally clear that we stayed within the regulations,†he explained. “When no yellow flag is being waved, it means there is no yellow flag. For me, marshal Post 1 should have waved green. They didn t wave green it was a mistake from their side. But this does not mean for me that a driver has to be penalised because it is their fault, not the drivers fault.
“When I am sitting in the cockpit as a driver, if I don t see a yellow flag being waved, then for me, it is green. It is the same as green, and this is what Tonio thought as well. I would have accepted a penalty if Tonio had overtaken on the start/finish line, but at the marshal Post 3 (exit of Turn 1), it is far away.â€
