Racing Point withdraws appeal over illegal F1 brake ducts

Ahead of the Italian Grand Prix, Racing Point has confirmed it has withdrawn its appeal against the stewards' decision regarding its Formula 1 brake ducts.

Racing Point’s 2020 challenger has been the centre of controversy through the early months of the season, with it being dubbed as the ‘Pink Mercedes’ by teams due to its similarities to Mercedes’ title-winning 2019 car.

Following the Styrian Grand Prix, Renault launched a protest concerning the legality of the Racing Point, in particular its brake ducts.

Racing Point was then fined €400,000 and had 15 points deducted from its constructors’ championship total after the stewards deemed the team to have copied Mercedes’ 2019 brake ducts.

A number of teams - including Renault - then appealed the decision as it felt it wasn’t strong enough, while Racing Point felt it had nothing wrong and had an appeal of its own.

Renault withdrew its appeal ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix and now Racing Point has also decided to withdraw its appeal in the “wider interests of the sport”.

Ferrari remains the only team to have maintained its stance against Racing Point with team boss Mattia Binotto remaining “fully convinced” that Racing Point is in the wrong, but will withdraw its appeal if the FIA provides clarity over future regulations.

A statement from the team read: “We welcome the resolution the teams have agreed, and we’re pleased the FIA has provided much-needed clarification of the rules on listed and non-listed parts.

“The stewards and all parties involved in the appeals process recognise that there was a lack of clarity in the regulations and that we did not deliberately break them. Now that the ambiguity around the regulations has been settled, we have decided to withdraw our appeal in the wider interests of the sport.

“This issue has been a distraction for us and the other teams, but now we and everyone else can get back to focusing solely on what we’re all here to do: racing hard and providing excitement and entertainment for the millions of F1 fans around the world.”