Szafnauer's rant about criticism of the RP20

If there is a car which caught the eye of all the specialists at the start of the season is the RP20 from Racing Point. Able to stand up to Ferrari and Red Bull, the pink single-seater has progressed considerably but it was not welcomed with open arms in the paddock this year.

Indeed, many similarities with the 10 W2019 of Mercedes were noticed and Renault for example did not hesitate to lodge a complaint concerning its legality, particularly targeting the brake ducts. Critics have also been heard on social networks. Enough to anger the leaders of the English team

“We have to recognize work where it exists,” Otmar Szafnauer told Reuters. Not so much for me but for the people at the factory who have worked hard to develop and get this car to where it is today and who continue to work hard to bring new development elements.”

Aware of the excitement surrounding the “pink Mercedes”, the director of Racing Point believes that the work of engineers is not recognized at its true value. “To see their work discredited and to hear people say ‘oh you copied’ or ‘you plagiarized’ is totally wrong and it’s gone too far.”

To support his defense, Andrew Green, technical director of Racing Point, admitted that the team had purchased brake ducts from Mercedes in 2019 before the new regulations, thus forcing the teams to create a certain number of listed parts including the one which is so much talked about, comes into force.

“In 2019, the transfer of brake duct information was completely legitimate. And we used this data as a reference, as a starting point for our brake ducts, completely legally,” says Andrew Green first before returning to the charge.

“Renault is attempting to apply the 2020 regulations for the 2019 season, thus making them retrospective.” Enough to calm the ardor on the side ofenstone ? Not sure.