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Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has insisted that Daniel Ricciardo's RB10 was legal during the Australian Grand Prix.
Ricciardo finished in second place in Australia but was excluded from the results after it was deemed that his RB10 had consistently exceeded the fuel flow rate limit of 100kg/hr during the race.
Red Bull was repeatedly warned by officials during the race that Ricciardo's car was exceeding the limit but they retained faith in their own sensors, after deeming that the FIA's measuring techniques were unreliable. Red Bull's rivals also expressed concerns with the FIA but opted to use the sensors provided by the sport's governing body.
Mateschitz's team has lodged an appeal, which will be heard on April 14 in Paris.
"The team has lodged a protest," said Mateschitz. "The fuel-flow sensor, which was given to the teams by the federation, gave divergent readings and it is inaccurate. We can prove the exact amount of fuel flow and this was always within the limits," he explained to Austrian newspaper Kurier.
Mateschitz added that there is a 'clear limit' to what Red Bull can accept with regards to its involvement in Formula 1, which extends to two teams in 2014 as well as the use of the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix.
"The question is not so much whether it makes economic sense but the reasons would be to do with sportsmanship, political influence, and so on," he said when asked under which circumstances Red Bull's involvement in Formula 1 would come to an end. "In these issues there is a clear limit to what we can accept."
Mateschitz was also critical of Formula 1's new regulations.
"You have to make Forumula 1 like it used to be - the top discipline of motorsports," he said. Formula 1 is not there to set new records in fuel consumption, nor to make it possible to have a whispered conversation during a race. It is absurd to race a lap seconds slower than last year. GP2 partially provides more racing and fighting and almost equal lap times as Formula 1 with a small fraction of the budget."
