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Stewards request Mercedes parts following Renault's protest of Racing Point

Published on 12 Jul 2020 21:22
6
By: Fergal Walsh

The stewards have requested Mercedes' front and rear brake ducts from 2019 after Renault protested the legality of Racing Point's 2020 car.

Following the Styrian Grand Prix, Renault lodged the formal complaint to the stewards amid concerns that the RP20 breaches regulations.

Earlier this year, Racing Point unveiled its 2020 car which was strikingly similar to Mercedes' 2019 W10 car - however Racing Point affirmed it had not done anything illegal when constructing its latest entry

Following a meeting in Austria, the FIA opted to “seal and impound the relevant parts of cars 11 [Perez] and 18 [Stroll] in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces”.

The stewards' statement also added that it had requested Mercedes to provide the FIA with the front and rear brake ducts from its 2019 car.

No decision on the outcome is expected soon, meaning Perez and Stroll retain their sixth and seventh finishing positions at Styria.

Stewards' statement in full

Having received a protest from Renault DP World F1 Team against BWT Racing Point F1 Team concerning an alleged breach of the following Articles of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations 2020

- Article 2.1
- Article 3.2
- Appendix 6, Paragraph 1
- Appendix 6, Paragraph 2(a)
- Appendix 6, Paragraph 2(c)

with regards to front and rear brake ducts used on cars 11 and 18, the Stewards summoned and heard from the team representatives of both teams and a representative of the FIA Technical Department.

The Stewards determined that the protest met all requirements specified in Article 13 of the FIA International Sporting Code and is, therefore, admissible. The FIA Technical Department representative was directed to seal and impound the relevant parts of cars 11 and 18 in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces.

The representative is further directed to provide a detailed report to the Stewards with the findings and to include an assessment that matches those findings against the alleged infringements outlined in the protest.

The representative is authorized in the name of the Stewards to call upon such outside technical assistance, including representatives of the following teams
- Renault DP World F1 Team
- BWT Racing Point F1 Team
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
in the conduct of their assessment.

Furthermore, the Stewards ordered the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to provide the front and rear brake air ducts of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ used by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in the 2019 season to the FIA Technical Department for examination.

When the likely submission date of the assessment can be determined, the FIA Technical Department representative will communicate that to the Chairman of the Stewards so that the next meeting to assess the claims can be scheduled.

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527

There are 3 possibilities here, AFAIC:
1) Merc' willingly shared some parts with RP a la FerrarixHAAS but denied it earlier
2) RP have with almost devout passion pieced a look-a-like together using imaging, telemetry and lot's and lot's of Haribo gummibärschen
3) RP have plagiarised the 2019 de... [Read more]

1
Jul 12 2020 - 22:28

F1 News Racing Point Mercedes Renault

Replies (6)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
There are 3 possibilities here, AFAIC:
1) Merc' willingly shared some parts with RP a la FerrarixHAAS but denied it earlier
2) RP have with almost devout passion pieced a look-a-like together using imaging, telemetry and lot's and lot's of Haribo gummibärschen
3) RP have plagiarised the 2019 design a la Spygate
Each option is likely, but right now I think 2) is the correct one, and Renault have sour grapes since they neither thought of the idea nor can copy it as successfully due to too different packaging philosophies.
- + 1
- Jul 12 2020 - 22:28
- mcbhargav
  
  Posts: 1,332
  Internal cooling and packaging is not possible without the insider help. Its between of 1 and 2. But its hard to prove without someone coming forward. So good luck Renault!
  + 0
  
  Jul 13 2020 - 08:01
- Snooky
  
  Posts: 121
  The issue RP will have is if the internal parts of the break ducts are the same, bits you can’t see from the outside, then there’s only one place they could have got that detail from. We’ll have to wait and see
  + 0
  
  Jul 13 2020 - 08:36
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  @mcbh this ain't related to internal cooling, but the brake ducts. They are visible (albeit not by much), and telemetry is plentiful. Internal cooling for RP is supplied by Merc' and is done legally. it is hard tobreplicate internal structures, yes, but it's neither illegal nor impossible, especially since this RP shares gearbox, PU, cooling and rake with Merc'.
  + 0
  
  Jul 13 2020 - 10:06
- jj284b
  
  Posts: 22
  Mercedes sold them parts in 2019, when it was perfectly legal... thing is, brakes are now required to be designed by every team (thats why Haas is strugling with them).. so RP cannot just copy brakes they had in 2019, because thats Mercedes intellectual property... they were supposed to design their own.. and not just "slightly adjust brakes they got from Mercedes"... they are not even allowed to design own based on Mercedes design... it has to be their design to begin with...
  + 0
  
  Jul 13 2020 - 21:35
- ajpennypacker
  
  Posts: 2,475
  Just like the Ferrari PU issue last year, I want this investigated and cleared ASAP. It has to be done. If everything is legal then we can move on from this
  + 0
  
  Jul 14 2020 - 00:26