Renault and Racing Point appeal FIA decision on brake ducts
Renault and Racing Point announced they have appealed the FIA's decision to penalize Racing Point with a deduction of 15 points and a €400,000 fine for copying their brake ducts from the 2019 Mercedes W10.
The FIA announced in a statement that it sided with Renault, which had accused Racing Point of running brake ducts similar to those of the 2019 Mercedes W10.
Racing Point is therefore penalized 15 championship points and a €400,000 fine, but both parties have decided to appeal the decision, which they consider respectively insufficient or too significant…
Renault indeed believes that Racing Point should lose all its championship points by declaring Racing Point’s participations illegal since the first races of 2020, and more importantly, that the Canadian team must change its brake ducts for the rest of the season.
Racing Point believes that its brake ducts are sufficiently unique not to be considered a copy.
McLaren and Williams also specified that they wanted to appeal but both have reconsidered their decision. It should be noted that these two teams are/will be equipped with Mercedes engines in 2021.
The appeal will have to be judged by the FIA at a later date.
Lawrence Stroll, team principal and major shareholder, stated that he wants to defend his name and prove his innocence.
Otmar Szafnauer, head of Racing Point explains: « The further we go in the arguments, the more we can prove we are right »
« The judges will be able to better understand how we developed the car and how we developed the brake ducts. This way, they will realize that we have respected the regulations. »
« It would have been good to clarify this situation earlier, rather than penalizing us for exploiting a loophole in the regulations. That’s what Formula 1 is. Exploiting the regulations. This is what happened with the double diffuser in 2009, which was later considered legal. »
« Why punish us if the rules don’t forbid it? »
