Lost on the back pages, another Racing Point reprimand

Racing Point earned itself another reprimand at the Spanish Grand Prix for running its Mercedes designed brake ducts, and it didn’t even make headlines.

Racing a pink Mercedes in this year’s championship, Renault protested the Racing Point RP20 at the Styrian, Hungarian and British races.

Renault specifically protested Racing Point’s front and rear brake ducts, claiming they were Mercedes’ intellectual property and had not been designed by Racing Point.

That led to a hearing, which took place in the wake of the British Grand Prix.

The stewards ruled that Racing Point’s brake ducts were in fact designed by Mercedes, slapping the team with a 400,000 Euro fine and docking them 15 points scored at the Styrian Grand Prix.

However, for the Hungarian and British GPs, despite committing the same sporting offence, Racing Point was only handed a reprimand.

Fast forward to the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix and this time it was the FIA that called attention to the ducts, but again just a reprimand.

Get your hands on the official Racing Point 2020 collection via the Formula 1 store

It was more of the same at the Spanish Grand Prix with yet another reprimand for the team.

Racing Point drivers Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez was fourth and fifth at the Spanish Grand Prix, scoring 18 points to move the team up to third in the Constructors’ Championship.

“The front and rear brake duct assemblies used by car numbers 11 and 18 of the BWT Racing Point F1 team during the qualifying sessions and the race of the 2020 Spanish Grand Prix are probably the same design as the ones used during the Styrian, Hungarian, British and 70th Anniversary Grand Prix,” a stewards note read.

While it seems that with every grand prix that Racing Point runs the ducts, the ducts that are technically within the regulations, the team will be reprimanded, rivals don’t believe that punishment – if it can be called that – is just.

Renault and Ferrari have both appealed the stewards’ initial ruling as too has Racing Point, although from a different standpoint.

The matter is set to go before the International Court of Appeal later this year.

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