There is zero chance of the rest of the car being deemed illegal, the fia have already said they are fine with the process that RP used to design the car. No other team is planning to protest any other part of the car, as the rear brake ducts were a specific case given the change from none listed to listed parts.subcritical71 wrote: ↑08 Aug 2020, 14:16Very well written! This is how I interpret the proceedings so far also. I see RP have now appealed. I do think they have a good chance on that appeal but it could still go badly for them. If they loose this appeal I believe it’s only time before the rest of the car is proven illegal. If they win the appeal the clone will continue to race the rest of the year without further protest. A lot riding on this decision for RP.jjn9128 wrote: ↑08 Aug 2020, 10:16Okay it's very simple.
- Last season brake ducts were non-listed parts
- Last season Racing point received CAD for front and rear brake ducts from Mercedes - legally
- RP did use the Merc front brake ducts on their car last year
- Last season RP chose not to run the rear brake ducts because their rake strategy clashed with Merc
- This year brake ducts became listed parts
- There was also a small change to the front brake duct regulation
- RP changed the front duct to accommodate the rule change - the FIA does not reasonably expect them to change all the aero surfaces of the duct too much from last year and accepts this as their part - called "grandfathering"
- However, they did not run the Merc rear ducts last year
- Racing point decided to copy the whole Merc car this year - the FIA accepts this was done by reverse engineering from photographs which is legal - though in this case in extremis
- Part of this was copying the low rake concept which meant they could now use the Merc rear brake ducts
- The FIA does not accept the grandfathering arguement with the rear ducts as they are "new" for this year - despite being legally received last year and slightly altered the FIA does not accept this definition of "design"
- The car fully comply's with the technical regulations so this breach is one of sporting regulations which says teams must own the IP of listed parts
Where it becomes tricky is that they have been declared to have been "designed" illegally so why they've not lost all points for every race they have and will used them for, or been forced to change them? It seems the FIA is on a cost cutting kick so feel forcing them to design new ducts is prohibitively expensive.
- Disqualification is not possible because of this so they've lost their constructors points and received a fine
On the other hand RP procured the designs legally and changed them slightly, albeit by reverse engineering the CAD. This is a type of "design", which the FIA said was a very narrow definition. However, it's very easy to see the arguement that it is therefor by definition a different part - even if the definition of design is narrow it's still design.
I can see Racing Point appealing, because I can see their arguement (I can also see the counter arguement). In my opinion the issue is not with what Racing Point did, more the FIAs wording and handling of the rule change of the listed parts. Which the FIA seem to concede and I think is why the penalty is lenient. The FIA have accepted it's their failing so are treating this like a warning that going forward this will be illegal - kinda like one of their famous technical directives. However, on the flip side of this is that in this case what Racing Point did was fine because the FIA failed to fully cover this eventuality in the rules. You can't retroactively apply punishment for rules not yet defined.
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