Former Racing Point Employees Allegedly Helped Renault F1 in the Protest: REPORTS

For the third time in 4 races, Renault F1 lodged an official protest against Racing Point. In fact, Renault protesting against the Silverstone-based outfit following each and every Grand Prix won’t come as a surprise.

Renault took offense to the RP20’s brake duct, which subsequently formed the crux of the French team’s protest. Renault explained how the brake ducts are an essential component that do a lot more than just cooling the brakes.

Did Ex- Racing Point employees give Renault a helping hand?

It’s not entirely straightforward to replicate a competitor’s brake ducts by just looking at photographs. Renault believes there are parts to the brake duct which are hidden from view and raise doubts over how Racing Point managed to pull off a ‘carbon copy’ of the W10.

That seems like a reasonable explanation, but how did Renault know where to look? Although teams are eagle-eyed when it comes to keeping a close eye on rivals, Renault was fairly quick in pointing to exactly what they believed was suspicious.

If the reports are to be believed, former Racing Point employees allegedly tipped Renault off. Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport reports the following,

“In the paddock, it is said that Renault received a tip from ex-Racing Point employees. They changed camp in winter. If they exist, they will likely only play the key witnesses before an appeals court with civil judges.”

Racing Point is fairly confident of the FIA ruling the protest in their favor. The team even claimed of having 886 drawings of the component in question as proof of the factory’s hard work and ingenuity.

Despite having an uber-competitive car, Racing Point didn’t have the best home race at the British Grand Prix.

Sergio Perez couldn’t take part in the event due to COVID-19, and his replacement- Nico Hulkenberg, couldn’t even start the race.

Down by one car, the Silverstone outfit could only muster ninth place with Lance Stroll. The Canadian struggled to cut through the pack and his race pace appeared to be mediocre.

For now, we can only await the FIA’s decision over Racing Point’s ‘engineering marvel’.

SOURCE- AMuS