Racing Point F1 car parts impounded, Mercedes dragged into case

The FIA has impounded the front and rear brake ducts of Racing Point’s Formula 1 cars and has requested Mercedes to provide component’s from its 2019 car.

Renault submitted a protest over both Racing Point cars after the Styrian Grand Prix, with the stewards ruling the case as 'admissible'. 

A number of Racing Point’s rivals have questioned the Silverstone based outfit’s approach to its RP20 challenger, which has been dubbed the ‘Pink Mercedes’ due to its close resemblance to last year’s Mercedes W10.

The RP20 design, which took inspiration from Mercedes’ 2019 title-winning car, has stirred great debate within the paddock ever since it debuted during pre-season testing in Barcelona.

Racing Point has repeatedly stressed that its 2020 car complies with the regulations and until now none of its rivals had found grounds to take action and lodge a formal complaint.

Renault has alleged that Racing Point’s cars contravened the Sporting Regulations with regards to legality and listed parts. The rules state that teams must be responsible for designing listed parts themselves.

Representatives from both teams were called before the stewards, with their report revealing the specific components protested were the front and rear brake ducts.

The relevent parts from Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll’s cars have now been impounded so that the FIA’s Technical Department can carry out a thorough investigation.

Mercedes has been ordered to provide the front and rear brake air ducts of its W10 for examination.

The stewards document explained: ”With regards to front and rear brake ducts used on cars 11 and 18, the Stewards summoned and heard from the team representatives of both teams and a representative of the FIA Technical Department.

"The Stewards determined that the protest met all requirements specified in Article 13 of the FIA International Sporting Code and is, therefore, admissible.

"The FIA Technical Department representative was directed to seal and impound the relevant parts of cars 11 and 18 in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces.

"The representative is further directed to provide a detailed report to the Stewards with the findings and to include an assessment that matches those findings against the alleged infringements outlined in the protest.

"The representative is authorised in the name of the Stewards to call upon such outside technical assistance, including representatives of the following teams: - Renault DP World F1 Team, BWT Racing Point F1 Team, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team - in the conduct of their assessment.

"Furthermore, the Stewards ordered the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team to provide the front and rear brake air ducts of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ used by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in the 2019 season to the FIA Technical Department for examination.”

Perez and Stroll finished sixth and seventh respectively in the Styrian Grand Prix. The results have now been made official but remain subject to the outcome of the protest.