Vettel's Hungarian GP disqualification: Had excess fuel at the start

Sebastian Vettel scored a great second place in Hungary before the summer break, but the Aston Martin driver was disqualified afterwards due to a lack of fuel in the tank. The British team appealed but the protest was rejected. A few weeks later more details have emerged about how this could have happened.

Too much fuel lost

The German Auto, Motor und Sport reports that Vettel was given too much fuel at the start of the race, so he was told to burn a lot of it. However, people were overenthusiastic, so that at the finish there was not one, but 0.3 litres in the tank.

"The race was slower than we thought at the start due to the rain. But once you have decided on a fuel quantity, you are not allowed to change anything, even on a restart," team manager Andy Stevenson informed. Vettel was instructed to switch to 'fuel burn mode'. "We wanted to get rid of the excess fuel".

However, the burn was so fast that by the end of the race the required litres were no longer there. According to Vettel, the team was always on track with the fuel after the switch to another mode. "Only on the last lap did it become clear that something was wrong after all," Stevenson said. By then the damage had already been done.