Do Sauber stand a chance of winning the appeal?

Both Sauber drivers Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi were disqualified after the Australian Grand Prix after Melbourne Race stewards found their cars to be in breach of the technical regulations.

The problem was with the car’s rear wing and the disqualification cost Sergio Perez a seventh place finish on his debut, while Kamui Kobayashi had also scored points in eighth.

Sauber instantly announced their decision to appeal against the ruling but do they really stand much hope of winning?

'It appears that there is a question over the top surface of the uppermost rear wing element, this area is not the working surface of the component and therefore relatively unimportant to its function.” Sauber’s technical director James Key told Autosport Magazine.

'Certainly this has not led to any performance advantage. We are checking the design of the parts now to better understand the situation and we intend to appeal the decision made by the stewards.'

After the race decisions are always bound to annoy the sports spectators watching around the world or at the track, fans watch the event and when that chequered flag waves you assume that you know the outcome of the race.

Many users on the VitalF1.com forum have questioned why this infringement wasn’t picked up in scrutineering after Friday’s practice, or Saturday’s qualifying.

ey added: 'We didn't know anything about it until after the race. It's possibly an oversight, certainly not intentional, and is nothing to do with F-ducts or anything else that circumvents the regulations.”

Intentional or not, Sauber’s excuses are unlikely to receive much sympathy with the FIA and if they are admitting they have broken the regulations, deliberately or otherwise, then they wouldn’t stand much of a chance in the appeal proceedings.

The BBC’s Ted Kravitz believes that Sauber may well withdraw their appeal during the next week, writing on twitter: Sauber could withdraw appeal in the coming week. 'No performance advantage' and manufacturing errors haven't won FIA appeals of late.

Sauber’s loss was Ferrari's, Toro Rosso's and Force India’s gain. Felipe Massa was bumped up from ninth to seventh, Sebastien Buemi from tenth to eighth, while both Force India’s cars were moved into the points Adrian Sutil ninth and Paul di Resta scoring a point on his debut in tenth.