The FIA ​​had inspected the Racing Point during the winter but not its brake ducts

From its debut in winter testing, the new Pink Panther did not fail to arouse the wrath of the competition, annoyed by the striking similarities between the new creation of the Silverstone team and the Mercedes W10 aligned in 2019.

Suspicions of illicit plagiarism are also fueled by the fact that Racing Point uses the wind tunnel of the six-time world champions in Brackley (United Kingdom), even if such a practice is perfectly legal.

This growing frustration had pushed the authorities to go to the factory of the former Force India team to pass the car rose with a fine comb and made sure that everything complied with the regulations. 

While RP20 is today the subject of a complaint filed by Renault for non-compliance with intellectual property, Nikolas Tombazis, technical manager of single-seater series at the FIA, recognized that the famous brake ducts had somewhat slipped through the cracks of the federal net. 

« Some teams started complaining in February so we decided to investigate before the Australian Grand Prix, told the aerodynamicist who worked for Ferrari et McLaren during his previous career. We went to the Racing Point premises and were mainly interested in the car as a whole, but not the brake ducts in particular. 

The rest of the car was very similar. (a la Mercedes), but we are talking about components which are part of the Listed Parts. If these shapes had been designed using a CAD file transfer (computer-aided design, Editor’s note), the car would have been blatantly illegal.  

Looking at the car, we were convinced by Racing Point's arguments that they relied on photographs and the principle of reverse engineering. This seemed very plausible to us. They even showed us exactly how they did it and we had no complaints. 

During these offseason discussions, we did not address the issue of brake ducts in detail, rightly or wrongly. With hindsight, I say to myself that it would have been wise to dig this track but we focused on the exterior surfaces which are part of the Listed Parts ».  

• Final verdict by the end of August at the latest?

In 2019, brake ducts did not appear in the now famous Appendix 6 of the sporting regulations which identify all the elements that the teams themselves must produce to claim Manufacturer status. F1.

This year, scoops have joined the list after intense lobbying from certain teams last year. The latter in fact believe that these elements are not only used for cooling purposes; they play a real aerodynamic role and help control tire temperature, which are major performance factors in F1. 

8 Racing Point brake ducts were seized after the last Styrian Grand Prix. After Renault was able to note the fact that all the parts placed under seal were identical, only 2 were kept, a front scoop and a rear scoop, for the purposes of the federal investigation. 

Tombazis, who was speaking in an online press conference on Friday evening, expects all the elements requested by the stewards to be provided ahead of the next British Grand Prix.

In view of the regulatory deadlines, without forgetting the possibility that the case will go to the FIA ​​International Court of Appeal, a final verdict is envisaged for the end of August, i.e. between the Spanish Grands Prix (August 16) and Belgium (August 30). 

Until then, Tombazis would not be surprised if the Racing Point RP20 is the subject of a complaint at the end of each competition weekend. The FIA ​​is therefore considering assigning the matter to a single panel of commissioners to avoid conflicting interpretations.