Racing Point Car: Renault F1 launches complain over legality of car

Racing Point Car: Renault launches a complaint to FIA over the legality of the car after the end of the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.

Renault has formally lodged a complaint against Racing Point over the legality of the car design and manufacturing after the French outfit loses to the latter in the Styrian GP.

Renault saw itself ending behind Racing Point, whose drivers Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll ended 6th and 7th respectively, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo who ended 8th.

According to the Formula 1 website, the complaint concerns four articles in the Sporting Regulation, most critically Appendix 6, which concerns listed parts.

Paragraph 1, Article 2 (a) says: “A competitor shall, in respect of the Listed Parts to be used in its cars in Formula One, only use Listed Parts which are designed by it.”

Article 2 (c) adds: “In the case of the Outsourcing of design, such third party shall not be a competitor or a party that directly or indirectly designs Listed Parts for any competitor.”

This means that Renault is suggesting that Racing Point is using designs that have not been designed in their capacity and are not original, as per the guidelines.

Renault said in a statement: “We confirm that Renault DP World F1 Team has submitted a request to the Stewards of the Event for clarification on the legality of the Racing Point RP20. We have no further comment on this matter until the Stewards have arrived at a decision.”

We confirm that Renault DP World F1 Team has submitted a request to the Stewards of the Event for clarification on the legality of the Racing Point RP20. We have no further comment on this matter until the Stewards have arrived at a decision.

— Renault F1 Team (@RenaultF1Team) July 12, 2020

The authorities claim that it won’t take an action before the investigations are made by the stewards over the complaint.

Racing Point Car copy of Mercedes?

Before the start of the season, several teams showed their concerns about Racing Point allegedly using the designs of Mercedes’ 2019 Formula 1 car.

However, Racing Point’s  Team Principal Otmar Szafnauer has repeatedly defended his side by claiming that they have been studying Mercedes aero for a long time, but don’t have the funds to emulate it.

Now, Renault taking the matter further, it depends on what will be the final verdict of the authorities over the issue.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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