Racing Point’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix weekend just went from bad to worse. After having their race weekend compromised last week, the team has lost the protest to Renault F1.
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Despite repeatedly asserting that it was confident of surviving the legal onslaught by Renault, Racing Point have been dealt a major blow by the FIA.
Thankfully, the team won’t be losing all its points since the Styrian Grand Prix when Renault first lodged a protest. The Silverstone outfit is set to lose 15 points scored in that particular race, with the FIA reprimanding the team for subsequent races.
Renault F1 exact revenge against Racing Point
Furthermore, the FIA has fined the British team 400,000 Euros for their actions. Financial repercussions aside, the key takeaway from the FIA’s verdict is that Racing Point’s brake ducts aren’t “illegal”.
Brake ducts on the RP20 formed the basis for Renault’s protest against their rival. The French team revealed that brake ducts were an essential part that did a lot more than just ‘cooling the brakes’.
Furthermore, the component wasn’t in complete view and is partially hidden, making it a difficult part to “copy” from photographs.
In response to Renault’s accusations, Racing Point disclosed that they had 886 drawings to prove that their brake ducts were completely legal.
The main point of contention in Renault’s protest has to do with brake ducts being a listed part in 2019, but not in 2020.
BREAKING: The FIA have upheld Renault's protest against Racing Point's car
The FIA have handed the team a €400,000 fine and a 15-point penalty#F1 pic.twitter.com/tW2Kr1C4j0
— Formula 1 (@F1) August 7, 2020
Apparently, Racing Point relied on CAD drawings to “recreate” portions of the W10 on the RP19 According to noted F1 journalist Will Buxton, the brake ducts and other parts were modified at a later date to suit the RP20.
Racing Point can now state their case to the International Court of Appeal, but a quick resolution is unlikely.
After enduring a miserable weekend at Silverstone last week, this is the last thing Racing Point would want before the 70th Anniversary GP.
More importantly, does the outcome of the protest influence Sebastian Vettel’s outlook on Racing Point? If the team suddenly loses all of its newfound form, will Vettel think twice before jumping ship to Aston Martin?
For now, we can only wait for further developments.
SOURCE- Formula 1- Twitter
