Racing Point withdraws appeal against penalty

F1 Grand Prix, GP Italy, Autodromo Nazionale di Monza

The Racing Point team announced on Sunday morning that it has withdrawn its appeal against the brake duct penalty after receiving clarification of the rules on listed and non-listed parts.

The field was unhappy with the cooperation between Mercedes and Racing Point with many starting to refer to the Silverstone-based team’s 2020 car, the RP20 as ’Pink Mercedes’.

Following the second race, the Styrian Grand Prix, Renault lodged an official protest against the rear brake ducts of the RP20. The French manufacturer repeated it at the following two grands prix which led to an investigation. The Silverstone-based team was hit with a 15-point Formula 1 constructors' championship penalty and a €400,000 fine after it was deemed to have used an illegal design process for its 2020 rear brake ducts.

However, as teams were unhappy with the outcome of the investigation, McLaren, Renault and Ferrari filed a protest against the decision with Racing Point doing the same in the hope that it can prove its innocence.

Since then, McLaren and Renault have withdrawn their protest and Racing Point has now also announced that it will do the same after receiving clarification from the FIA.

“The stewards and all parties involved in the appeals process recognise that there was a lack of clarity in the regulations and that we did not deliberately break them. Now that the ambiguity around the regulations has been settled, we have decided to withdraw our appeal in the wider interests of the sport.

“This issue has been a distraction for us and the other teams, but now we and everyone else can get back to focusing solely on what we’re all here to do: racing hard and providing excitement and entertainment for the millions of F1 fans around the world.”

It is believed that Ferrari will also withdraw its protest if the FIA can ensure that teams are unable to copy cars by „reverse engineering”.