Sergio Perez, Racing Point, Hungaroring, 2020

Further appeals over Racing Point design would be “a waste of time” – Szafnauer

RaceFans Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: Racing Point CEO Otmar Szafnauer says he expects Renault to accept the decision of the stewards on the legality of its car when it is given, and not pursue further appeals.

What they say

Szafnauer expects the stewards to rule in favour of his team when they issue their decision, which could happen before this weekend’s race.

I would hope they wouldn’t try over and over again.

We know the rules, we know the sporting regulations, we know the technical regulations very well. And we’re 100 percent compliant.

We didn’t breach anything. So I think it would be futile and just a waste of time to go over the same ground over and over.

The FIA came in March and had a good understanding of how we developed this car, what we did to get to where we got to. And they’re 100 percent happy that we did it legally and within the regulations. It’s just the stewards didn’t come. So now we’ve got to explain what we explained to the FIA, technical delegates, the stewards.

Quotes: Dieter Rencken

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Comment of the day

Jeorge is encouraged by Ferrari president John Elkann’s take on the team’s troubled start to 2020:

Fantastic news to hear from the top man himself, take attention away from the technically excellent Mattia Binotto. This new long term plan is exactly what the team needs.

With Elkann, Binotto and two young drivers willing to be patient and live close to the factory I am certainly happy that structural changes are being made rather than boneheaded suggestions from ‘experts’ to fire people.

I don’t care about 2021 as long as behind the scenes everyone is organised and more importantly lives and breathes scarlet red and is loving every minute of it.
Jeorge

Social media

Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Kevin, Mandev and Sean Doyle!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

  • 30 years ago today Ayrton Senna won the German Grand Prix, pitting once, and passing Alessandro Nannini who ran non-stop to second in his Benetton

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

21 comments on “Further appeals over Racing Point design would be “a waste of time” – Szafnauer”

  1. I take a knee because I want to have the biggest impact I can on ending racism.

    Oh my sweet summer child…

    1. The Skeptic (@)
      29th July 2020, 15:32

      He’s a brilliant driver, but he’s young.

  2. Will we ever stop worrying about the kneeling-thing? It’s got old and redundant.

    1. Well, since the situation WAS a mess in Hungary, and Hamilton quite publicly called out F1 and the FIA on the matter, the question of how they handle that and react to that for the next race is surely relevent @jerejj.

      The specifics about taking a knee is almost certainly in reaction to a question, one that keeps coming up especially because of the mixed message where some drivers do so, some don’t some weren’t able to even get there before the anthem etc. If the message were clear, then the question would be different.

      1. The Skeptic (@)
        29th July 2020, 15:35

        I respect and admire Hamilton as a driver.

        However listening to the best paid man in the sport complain about racism is galling. Western democracies are the least racist countries on Earth.

        1. Western democracies are the least racist countries on Earth.

          That’s all right then. Nothing left to do.

        2. Are you perhaps White? Don’t think you get to make that statement if you are personally.

    2. It’s got old and redundant.

      We’re still a long way from actions to end racism becoming ‘redundant’, @jerejj?

    3. What’s tiring is listening to people tirelessly complain about it. Unless you’re trying to make a point of course.

    4. Nothing redundant about it. You’re living proof of that

  3. RocketTankski
    29th July 2020, 7:58

    They are the knights who say “knee!”

  4. So norris got atleast for the moment 5 people (includng myself) to comment. Which means his point ia correct. To bend the knee is a small physical thing to do but on an international stage it does send out a very clear message. Its a statement for all to see, and comment on. Which means we are having BLM non raciasm etc in our minds whether we want to or not.

  5. Couldn’t agree more @Jeorge, well said.

  6. Otmar should remember that Renault’s braking system satisfied all the technical and sporting regulations and had been approved by the FIA only to have stewards rule in Racing Points favour so he may need to be a little less smug about the protests.

    I also understand that Renault “has” to protest each race that RP competes in for any ruling/DQ to be applied to those races rather than just the first one they protested so until there is a decision from the stewards, they will have to keep protesting.

    1. @dbradock that is true for repeating the same protest, being that until it is ruled, if they don’t repeat at other races only the results of the one where they lodged the protest would be changed.
      But Szafnauer is talking about appealing should the stewards rule RP brake ducts are legal.

      I do wonder if the stewards rule they are indeed illegal if RP would be the ones appealing but that is very unlikely (IMHO)

    2. I also understand that Renault “has” to protest each race that RP competes in for any ruling/DQ to be applied to those races rather than just the first one they protested so until there is a decision from the stewards, they will have to keep protesting.

      I assume that Szafnauer refers to protesting other (listed) parts of the car if the brake ducts are deemed legal by the stewards. @dbradock

      1. I suspect that is indeed the case (i.e. discouraging Renault from vexatious protests).

        I wonder, though, if vexatious protests is exactly what Renault want to do – partially to diminish Racing Point’s resources by tying them up in protests, and partially to make a political point to the FIA that they want to reduce the amount of parts a customer team can buy. There may also be the element of pride in Renault being penalised due to RP’s protest in 2019 and in being beaten by a smaller team that rankles with Abiteboul.

        1. It’s possible that they will, but it may not necessarily be vexatious.

          They seem to have started with one of the “simpler to identify” hidden parts that they believe have been illegally provided whether as an actual part or just as designs. I’m sure there’s more.

          I doubt that they would be going to the trouble unless there’s a firm belief that something illegal has occurred and I think there’s quite a few teams (and fans) that support that belief.

          To me something is very odd about the RP chassis. Even Otmar himself has highlighted the difficulty in “copying” yet somehow they’ve managed an almost flawless rendition of the 2019 Merc? That defies belief – I’m just wondering how out of the loop he’s been kept by those that “built” the car so he sounds completely believable when defending the car.

    3. @dbradock I haven’t seen the source for the quote, but I believe he would be referring to after the stewards have provided their ruling over the current protests. But up until the stewards give their ruling, Renault will of course continue protesting to ensure they don’t lose any points if the ruling is in their favour (if the ruling is delayed to after this weekend for example) – and since RP know this I doubt they would ask them to stop before the ruling.

  7. Who cares about Norris and the knee. Better storey (sic) on the same site, ‘Potential Sunderland owner William Storey to splurge £50 million on transfers.’ Poor old Sunderland fans lol.

  8. Adam (@rocketpanda)
    29th July 2020, 12:12

    “Further protests would be a waste of time!” insists team being protested.

Comments are closed.