IThere is a certain irony in this case. Racing Point is in the dock for an offense that was once fought by all means. In 2016, Haas F1 bought the ticket to Formula 1 with a new approach. The racing team bought everything from Ferrari that the regulations allowed. Only the chassis, radiator, wing and paneling of the car were created in the company’s own design office, around 30 percent of the total package. Racing Point, still under the name Force India, saw the end of the West and took the lead among the riders of principles. The more successful the disguised Ferrari became, the more reprehensible the collaboration appeared.
The alliance between Ferrari and Haas F1 encouraged Red Bull and Mercedes to do the same: Red Bull with Alpha Tauri, Mercedes with Racing Point. There was brainwashing due to a change of ownership. Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll wanted success as soon as possible. He gave the direction, the idealists had no chance. The most pragmatic approach was to team up with engine partner Mercedes, buy as many parts as possible there and faithfully replicate the rest of the car. Which is also worthwhile for Mercedes, as team boss Toto Wolff specifies: “For us this is a real business model. We make good money with Racing Point. You are competitive in this way. It’s a win-win situation. “
Racing Point took the once criticized model to extremes. What used to be considered a break with the DNA of Formula 1 is no longer even a trivial offense. The engineers copied the previous year’s Mercedes down to the last detail. The alarm bells rang at Renault. The factory team protested against the plagiarism. Racing Point was accused on the basis of clear matches of not having designed parts of the car itself. The plaintiff concentrated on the brake ventilation because that was where the chances of success were greatest. Renault Ambassador Alain Prost sees the bigger picture. “If we allow a collaboration like that between Mercedes and Racing Point or Red Bull and Alpha Tauri, that will do the trick. At some point Williams will aim for the same model with Mercedes, Haas and Alfa Romeo with Ferrari. Then you stand alone as a designer like Renault. We cannot copy this model even if we wanted to. To recreate a Mercedes, we would need a Mercedes engine and a Mercedes transmission. That is not possible for Renault. “
“Racing Point cannot forget its knowledge”
The stewards took 26 days to put their judgment on 14 pages on paper. It’s as complex as the case. The brake vents are legal, the design process wasn’t. Racing Point thus avoids disqualification. The division of the components into those that you can buy and those that you have to design yourself is in the sporting regulations. That explains the punishment that appears contradictory to some in the circus.
Racing Point has to pay 400,000 euros and loses 15 points for the constructors’ rating, but is allowed to continue with the part. It would not be possible to require the team to build new brake ventilation. Nikolas Tombazis, Head of Technology at the International Automobile Federation Fia, regrets: “Racing Point cannot forget its knowledge. Every new design would look like it does now. And how should we determine how big the difference has to be so that it passes as a separate construction? “
The Fia dug this pit itself by changing the status of the brake shafts at the turn of the year. Last year Racing Point was allowed to legally purchase these parts or construction drawings from Mercedes. This was banned from January 1, 2020. That explains why only the rear brake ventilation was criticized. Racing Point had already used the front ones in 2019. The Mercedes copy thus became the intellectual property of the customer team. The documents for the rear brake ventilation went into the drawer because the 2019 vehicle had a completely different concept than the Mercedes. The rear ventilation information has now been used. Legally, the part’s designer is still Mercedes.
“No fan understands that”
After the judgment, bad words were spoken. McLaren boss Zak Brown rumbled: “I wonder how parts that were produced illegally can still be on the car. No fan understands that. ”Renault colleague Cyril Abiteboul, the penalty is too low:“ We were punished much more severely for a similar offense last year. ”Renault and Ferrari appealed. They are calling for tougher sanctions and a fundamental judgment.
Racing Point is taking action against the guilty verdict because they still believe that they have done nothing wrong. Team owner Lawrence Stroll complained in an open letter about the witch hunt against his racing team and the sanctions. Stroll refused to allow himself to be pushed into the role of a cheater, where he had never cheated himself in his life, and he accused everyone who appealed against the judgment of unsportsmanlike conduct.
Renault is not impressed. “We are not against customer teams, but against customer cars,” says Abiteboul. The Fia promised their backing. “Copying of details will still be allowed. But we don’t want nine Mercedes copies, where all that matters is who is the best copy of the car. That is why we will adjust the 2021 rules so that the teams can no longer recreate an entire car based on photos. “
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