Racing Point makes serious allegations toward Renault with F.I.A report due soon.
Typhoon Hagibis, Mercedes’ winning its sixth consecutive world constructor’s championship, and Valtteri Bottas taking his first victory since Azerbaijan weren’t the only stories that came out of Sunday’s running of the Japanese Grand Prix.
There was another story–the Racing Point team filed a formal protest against the Renault F1 Team for exceeding their brake bias system past the normal F.I.A. required limit. Both teams with their representatives met after the race to discuss this problem.
The dossier Racing Point submitted is 12 pages long, which makes one wonder what the Silverstone-based team witnessed. Either it is a whistleblower (a word trendy these days) or it pertains to something the team had observed for quite some time and is being reported just now.
Because of this protest, the F.I.A. has seized all of Renault ECU systems, which includes the steering wheels for further investigation.
Courtesy: Hotinfonow.com
The F.I.A. had this to say: “Having received a protest from Racing Point against Renault concerning an alleged pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system on cars 3 and 27, the stewards summoned and heard from the team representatives of both teams and a representative of the F.I.A. Technical Department. The Stewards determined that the protest met all requirements specified in Article 13 of the International Sporting Code and is, therefore, admissible.”
The F.I.A. Technical Department representative was directed to seal and impound the FIA standard electronic control units and steering wheels of cars 3 and 27 in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces. “The representative is further directed to conduct a detailed analysis of the hardware, software, and data associated with them and, when complete, provide a written report to the stewards with their findings–to include an assessment that matches those findings against the potential technical infringements detailed in the protest.”
The representative is authorized in the name of the stewards to call upon such outside technical assistance in the conduct of their assessment. “When the likely submission date of the assessment can be determined, the F.I.A. Technical Department representative will communicate that to the Chairman of the Stewards so that the next meeting time to assess the claims made in the protest can be scheduled.”
Here is Renault’s position: “Team representatives have met with the stewards of the event at Suzuka but, due to the complexity of the 12-page dossier prepared by SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team, a further meeting will take place at a future date, to be defined. Renault intends to use this recess to prepare an equally detailed case to defend its position vigorously.”
Renault scored double points in Japan, with Daniel Ricciardo finishing sixth, while teammate, Nico Hulkenberg, took tenth. These results will either stand or be taken from the team, pending the investigation. It’s expected that the review will conclude just before the next round of racing, which is scheduled in Mexico in two weeks.
