Hey, They're Still Doing it: Renault F1 Lodges Yet Another Protest Against Racing Point
Nearly all of us have been there, at least those of us who are parents.
Picture this. Kids in the backseat. Long road trip.
"He keeps looking at me!" one kid yells.
"Am not!" the other kids fires back.
"Now he's sticking his tongue out at me!"
In the latest chapter of the on-again, still-on-again saga of the Racing Point F1 brake ducts, Renault filed its fourth protest in as many races on Sunday following the F1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton won the race, followed by Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc.
Meanwhile, the kids in the back seat, namely the Racing Point and Renault teams, are still going at it.
Following Sunday's race, Renault filed it's race-weekly protest, alleging that the Racing Point car No. 18 of Lance Stroll was in "breach of Articles 2.1 and 3.2 and Appendix 6 to the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations with regard to the brake ducts used on Car 18."
In layman's terms, Racing Point continues to allege that the brake ducts on the current Racing Point car are direct copies of the design of the 2019 Mercedes car that Mercedes used to win the championship. The issue, which the FIA seems in no hurry to address, is part of a bigger-picture issue of customer cars in the series.
There was one twist to latest protest, as Racing Point's second car, the No. 11, was not included in the protest. That car, which was qualified by Nico Hulkenberg, never made it out of the garage during race after failing to fire. Sergio Perez drove the car the first four races of the season before he tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday of race week at Silverstone.
To the FIA's credit, Stroll's protested car was not impounded after the race. The FIA tech team, in its wisdom, has seen that car enough.
"The FIA Technical Department representative was asked after the 2020 Syrian Grand Prix to seal and impound the relevant parts of cars 11 and 18 in preparation for conducting an analysis of those pieces," said the FIA in a press release. "The FIA Technical Department representative will provide a detailed report to the Stewards with the findings and will include in his report an assessment that matches those findings against the alleged infringements outlined in the Protests.
After, the race of the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix, Renault lodged identical protests against (Racing Point) relating to the exact same matter. Further, the Stewards for the 2020 British Grand Prix have received a further identical protest.
"In order to facilitate the analysis process, RP has declared that the relevant parts targeted by all of these protests and used during all three Grand Prix are the same. Therefore, the Parties declare and agree that there is no need to proceed again with sealing and impounding the relevant parts of cars 11 and 18 following the present Event, the 2020 British Grand Prix."
We get it. You don't like each other.
Now keep it down back there.
