21:26 – The Styrian stewards have admitted that they have admitted Renault’s protest against Racing Point, but that the matter will be handled at a later date.
The race management issued a statement on Sunday evening that shows that Renault specifically questions the brakeducts on the Racing Point RP20. The stewards now want the FIA technical department to come up with a report. Only when that is ready can the handling of the protest begin. Due to the investigation, the FIA has confiscated the relevant parts of Racing Point. Mercedes also has to hand over the brakeducts of last year’s car so that they can also be examined.
This year Racing Point drives a car that is very similar to the car that made Mercedes world champion last year. Several teams were not happy with the fact that the RP20 is so similar to the W10, but most of them did not feel that Racing Point really breaks the rules. Renault had previously considered protesting, but the season opener remained silent a week ago. After a strong race from Racing Point, in which Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll finished sixth and seventh, Renault, which had to settle for eighth place, decided to take action and to formally protest against Racing Point .
The fact that the British racing team took a good look at the W10 when designing the RP20 is something that the team never made a secret of. “We took inspiration from last year’s fastest car,” said Andy Green, Racing Point’s technical director, earlier this year. GPUpdate.net. “Why wouldn’t we do that? We use their gearbox and drive the same power unit. And the gearbox is designed for a suspension that includes a certain aerodynamics philosophy.” In addition, Racing Point had come to the conclusion that there was no more profit to be made with the further development of the car last year. “And if you start all over again, you’re not going to look at the slowest car on the grid, are you?”
Renault Formula 1 team boss Cyril Abiteboul previously expressed his dissatisfaction with Racing Point’s copying behavior: “I have never experienced in Formula 1 that someone is so proud of the fact that they have copied something. It is the same as when someone who fakes paintings is very satisfied with a work he has recreated. As beautiful as it may be, it is not worth the same as the original piece. ” Renault said on Sunday evening that it would refrain from further comment until the stewards made a decision in this matter.
Video: Did Racing Point copy last year’s Mercedes?
