Sauber reveals team’s 3mm rear wing rule breach

Sauber’s breach of the rear wing rules was by as little as 3 millimetres, according to team boss Peter Sauber.

After finishing in the points, both C20 cars were disqualified in Melbourne when scrutineers found that the concave radius of the upper wing element measured less than 100mm.

"Unfortunately, the rules were clear and we had no choice but to disqualify them," former team driver Johnny Herbert, who was on the stewards’ panel in Australia, wrote in a column for The National.

Sauber told Swiss newspaper Blick: "A lunacy. The radius was 95 or 97 millimetres. We’re devastated."

The Hinwil based team said late on Sunday that it would appeal the decision, and Blick reveals that team manager Beat Zehnder indeed lodged the official notice with the FIA.

"We have two different types of wing, and one of them seems not to have been precisely controlled during the construction.

"But for sure there was no (performance) advantage," Sauber insisted. "Even more painful is that Force India are now in the points with both cars."