Racing Point will consider appealing the punishment handed by the stewards after their brake ducts were deemed illegal on Friday.
The Silverstone-based team was docked 15 points and handed a fine of 400k Euros after it was ruled they had breached regulations on listed parts by using brake ducts which were essentially designed by Mercedes, this after Renault had protested their legality at the past three races.
It was a decision that surprised some, with Racing Point themselves confident the case would be dismissed, but offering his immediate reaction, team boss Otmar Szafnauer was surprisingly upbeat.
“The good news from the judgement was that the car is completely legal from a technical perspective, so we can continue to run the brake ducts,” he told Sky Sports.
“It’s just a matter of process which is in the sporting regulations.
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“We read the sporting regulations, there is nothing specific in there which says we couldn’t do what we did.
“Other teams have done exactly the same, probably even more than what we did in a way. It’s a bit bewildering,” he added.
“However, we now have to decide whether our punishment is one that we should appeal.
“But like I said, the good news is we can continue to run this car as it is here, and thereafter, and it’s legal.”
This ruling comes in a year when technical collaborations between teams has been in focus due to Racing Point developing what has been dubbed a ‘Pink Mercedes’ due to their attempt to replicate last year’s W10.
The FIA has also now indicated it will move to prevent teams doing what Racing Point did in the future by restricting what can and can’t be copied, though exactly how that can be done is still being discussed.
As it is, and as Szafnauer noted, F1 won’t have to worry about this next year as teams will be developing all-new cars for the change in regulations in 2022.
“I think all that kind of stuff should be addressed by the new rules in 2022,” he said.
“There are different categories of parts there, and it’s to address just that.
“It becomes even more clear in 2022, the regulations have been pushed out a year because of the virus situation that we find ourselves in.
“This kind of issue will completely disappear.”
