Stewards deem Spyker protest inadmissible 06 Apr 2007
The Malaysian Grand Prix stewards have refused to accept Spyker’s protest against the Toro Rosso team, on the grounds that the issue is already the subject of arbitration proceedings launched by the Dutch squad over the alleged use of ‘customer cars’.
At the opening round in Melbourne, Spyker lodged an appeal against the Super Aguri cars after qualifying, claiming the Japanese team’s SA07 was effectively the same car as the 2006 Honda RA106. That protest, however, was not deemed official, as it was not made within the two-hour time limit following scrutineering.
At Sepang the stewards accepted that yesterday’s protest against Toro Rosso - concerning claims that their STR2 and Red Bull’s RB3 are one and the same car - was made properly, but returned the fee and declared the protest to be inadmissible since the issue of Intellectual Property Law raised by Spyker is now an ongoing matter for arbitration and thus it would be inappropriate for the stewards to involve themselves in the matter.
