APRIL 29, 2005

Toyota backs out of appeal

Toyota has decided that it is wisest to withdraw its appeal for Ralf Schumacher's penalty of 25 seconds given at the end of the San Marino Grand Prix. The penalty dropped him from eighth place to 11th and meant that Nick Heidfeld moves up and gets a point for eighth place. Mark Webber is promoted to ninth and Vitantonio Liuzzi to 10th. The team says that it lodged an appeal because it "wanted the opportunity to undertake a detailed analysis of the incident" and having done that concluded that it does not have enough evidence to make a conclusive case against the penalty and so will not pursue the appeal. The team says that it will work with the other teams and the FIA to further clarify what constitutes the "safe release" of the car during a pit stop.