Renault files complaint against Racing Point

The results of the Styrian Grand Prix will have to wait before being ratified since the Renault team F1 Team lodged a protest against the two Racing Point RP20 single-seaters by Sergio Pérez and Lance stroll after the finish of the event this Sunday.

The French team believes that the two pink cars violate articles 2.1 (compliance with regulations), 3.2 (Competitors must ensure that their cars respect the eligibility and safety conditions throughout practice and the race), as well as Annex 6 Paragraph 1, 2(a) and 2(c) namely:

A competitor must, in relation to listed parts for use in his cars in Formula One, only use listed parts which are designed by him

The requirement to design and use listed parts does not prevent a competitor from outsourcing the design and/or manufacturing of listed parts to a third party (including an associate of that competitor) provided that:

a) He retains the exclusive right to use the parts listed in Formula 1 as long as he is competing in Formula 1.

c) In the case of design outsourcing, such third party must not be a competitor or a party that directly or indirectly designs listed parts for a competitor.

Concretely, Renault is attacking Racing Point over the intellectual property of certain parts (listed in appendix 6), the RP20 often being considered very close to the Mercedes W10 aligned last year with regard to certain elements. The Silverstone team has never hidden it.

This is not the first time that the two teams have faced each other on the regulatory field. During the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix, Racing Point had filed a complaint against Renault for its braking distribution.

We confirm that the 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

Renault said it did not want to make further comments before the commissioners' decision.