Protest against 'legal' RP20 is 'part of the circus'

Lance Stroll is “100 percent confident” Racing Point’s RP20 is legal and says the team has the “evidence” to back this up.

Back in February, Racing Point debuted its controversial pink Mercedes during pre-season testing.

The 2020 RP20 draws heavily on Mercedes’ championship-winning 2019 W10 and was designed in the Brackley squad’s wind tunnel.

Almost immediately rival teams threatened to protest the car with Renault following through on that threat at the Styrian Grand Prix.

With Sergio Perez and Stroll both finishing the race ahead of Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo, the team officially protested.

The stewards declared the protest admissible and seized parts of the RP20, the front and rear brake ducts, while also asking Mercedes to provide the corresponding parts from its W10.

The FIA have seized parts from Racing Point's RP20 after deeming Renault's protest as admissible.

Mercedes are also involved.https://t.co/JXMOqtO3GR #F1 #StyrianGP pic.twitter.com/TFRSfrDqxp

— Planet F1 (@Planet_F1) July 12, 2020

Now Formula 1 waits for an answer.

Stroll, though, is adamant that he is not worried about the protest.

“We’ve got all the evidence to prove that our car’s legal,” the Canadian told the official F1 website in the build up to the Hungarian GP.

“It’s all part of the F1 circus, I guess, but the good thing is, from everything I’ve heard, we can prove that we’re legal.

“It’s disappointing that we have to see that protest and all that drama early in the season.

“However, I’m 100 percent confident that our car is legal and that our guys will take care of it…

“I’m pretty positive from everything I’ve heard.”

After the Styrian GP and Perez attack on Alex Albon for fourth, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says everyone on the grid should be “worried” about the RP20.

That’s a sentiment echoed by McLaren’s Carlos Sainz.

Stroll says it is only natural that rivals are worried given the pace of the pink Mercedes.

He added: “Andrew Green [Racing Point Technical Director] and everyone back at the factory’s done a great job in constructing this car, and no one can take that away from us.

“It’s natural that there will be some protesting going on and some bad ideas about how we’ve constructed this car, but honestly the guys back at the factory have just done a great job and that’s how it is.”

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