Ferrari, Renault officially appeal in Racing Point case, McLaren drops it
While McLaren dropped its appeal, Ferrari and Renault have officially appealed against the decision made by the FIA stewards over the legality of Racing Point’s RP20 brake ducts.
While Racing Point and Mercedes repeatedly emphasised that they have not made a breach against the sporting and technical regulations regarding their collaboration, many teams have been unimpressed with the similarities between the Silverstone-based outfit’s current car and the Brackley-based squad’s 2019 machine.
The FIA stewards declared last Friday that Racing Point’s designing process has been illegal as the RP20's brake ducts had not been designed by the team themselves. The decision saw the BWT-liveried team lose 15 championship points and receive a €400,000 fine.
Many teams did not agree with the verdict, indicating that the decision has been too lenient. Renault, Ferrari, Williams and McLaren expressed their wish to appeal against the decision. The Italian and the French teams have now confirmed that they have officially appealed against the verdict.
"We have confirmed our intention to appeal against the Stewards’ decision in respect of the Racing Point brake ducts.
"In the meantime, we will continue to work intensively with the FIA and all stakeholders to develop and implement a clear and enforceable regulatory framework that will ensure all teams participating in the 2021 season will develop their original aerodynamic concept by themselves,” Renault’s statement read.
Meanwhile, McLaren that was set to appeal against the decision in the Racing Point case too has confirmed that it would drop the brake duct appeal. The Woking-based team was upset with the collaboration between Mercedes and Racing Point with team principal Andreas Seidl expressing his fears that Formula One could become a „copying championship".
Last Friday, McLaren informed the FIA about its intention to appeal against the decision that the stewards made ahead of the first free practice session for the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix. However, the team has now confirmed that it would drop its appeal, but would closely monitor the further evaluation of the case.
Moreover, McLaren hopes that the governing body will further clarify the sporting and technical regulation to avoid the championship to become a copying competition.
"McLaren Racing has decided not to appeal the decisions of the FIA Stewards in relation to Renault’s protests of Racing Point.
"The team welcomes the Stewards’ decisions and findings in this case and importantly that the FIA has demonstrated that transgressions of the rules will be investigated and punished,” McLaren confirmed.
