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Court rejects Red Bull appeal for Ricciardo

PARIS (AP) — Red Bull is "disappointed" but now focused on the upcoming Chinese Grand Prix after a court on Tuesday rejected its appeal against the disqualification of driver Daniel Ricciardo at the season-opening race in Australia.

The ruling from the International Court of Appeal, motorsport's dispute-resolution tribunal, means Ricciardo won't get back the 18 points he otherwise would have scored with a second-place finish in Melbourne.

Had the court accepted Red Bull's appeal, Ricciardo would have 30 points, enough to put him third behind Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Instead, the Australian will stay with 12 points and in 10th place ahead of Sunday's race in Shanghai.

Race stewards at the Australian Grand Prix on March 16 disqualified Ricciardo for violating Formula One's new rules on fuel usage. The rules limit the amount of fuel cars can use and the speed at which they use it. Ricciardo's RB10 burned through fuel faster than the permitted rate of 100 kilograms per hour. Red Bull blamed what it said was a faulty fuel-flow sensor.

Having heard arguments for and against Red Bull's appeal at a hearing on Monday, the Paris-based court said Tuesday in a brief statement that it upheld the stewards' original decision.

"We are of course disappointed by the outcome and would not have appealed if we didn't think we had a very strong case," Red Bull said in a statement. "We always believed we adhered to the technical regulations throughout the 2014 Australian Grand Prix."