"Decision to follow in the next few weeks": No judgement after Formula E hearing due to Porsche appeal against Misano disqualification

No decision has been made in the hearing following Porsche's appeal against the disqualification of the original race winner Antonio Felix da Costa. This will only follow in the coming weeks. A possible reversal of the penalty would have a major impact on the battle for the title in the 2024 Formula E season.

On Friday, 7 June, the International Court of Appeal of the FIA held a hearing in Paris regarding Porsche's appeal against the disqualification of Antonio Felix da Costa in Misano. However, a judgement has not yet been made, as Motorsport-Magazin.com reports.

"The Court of Appeal heard the parties but did not reach a decision," a statement from Porsche Motorsport is quoted as saying. "This should follow shortly in the next few weeks."

An indication that even the highest court in motorsport does not consider the decision to be simple and unambiguous. After all, the last time a Formula E team went before the court - at that time also Porsche because of a penalty against Antonio Felix da Costa at the London E-Prix - the decision was made on the same day. At that time, however, the appeal was deemed inadmissible.

At the sixth round of the 2024 season in Misano, Antonio Felix da Costa won Saturday's race but was disqualified around five hours after the end of the race: During the technical inspection of his car after the race, a spring was discovered in the area of the pedals that was not on the list of approved parts from chassis supplier Spark.

According to Spark's parts catalogue, this was part of the pedals on the Gen2 cars, but not permitted on the Gen3 car. According to Porsche, however, this spring was also permitted in these cars at the beginning of the Gen3 era, as there were problems with the supply of spare parts for the new cars. In retrospect, the affected spring was removed from the parts catalogue comprising around 100 A4 pages, but without making this clear to the teams in any way.

A cancellation of the disqualification would have major consequences: Not only would Antonio Felix da Costa receive 25 points back in the drivers' standings, this would also apply to Porsche in the teams' standings. Furthermore, as Mitch Evans would again be classified in 6th place instead of 5th, the 73-point gap to Jaguar in the championship would be reduced by a whole 27 points. Porsche would also benefit in the manufacturers' standings and significantly extend its lead over Jaguar.