Renault’s ongoing protest against the Racing Point cars is also about how Formula One racing goes in the future, team executive director Marcin Budkowski said on Friday.
Former champions Renault questioned the legality of Racing Point using cars that look similar to Mercedes’ cars after last weekend’s Styrian Grand Prix in Austria.
“I think for us it’s important to clarify ... what is permissible and what isn’t for this season, but also what F1 we want in the future,” Budkowski told reporters in a video news conference at the Hungarian Grand Prix. “What is the model we want? Is it permissible to get parts or get geometries from another team and use them on your car or not — because we don’t think that’s the right model for F1 in the future. It’s really beyond the protest, beyond this race.”
Photo: AFP
Canadian-owned Racing Point, who use Mercedes engines and gearboxes, have made no secret of copying last year’s winning Mercedes, but have said that they followed the rule that teams must design certain listed parts for themselves.
The protest focuses on the Racing Point brake ducts and a comparison with those on last year’s Mercedes.
A decision is unlikely for several weeks, but Racing Point principal Otmar Szafnauer was confident his team’s case is “bulletproof.”
“There are things that the camera can’t see, especially the internal surfaces of a brake duct, for example, that we completely designed and developed ourselves,” he said.
The controversy has also revived a long-standing debate about “customer cars” — ones provided by a constructor for another team to race.
McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl spoke earlier of the risk of F1 becoming a “copying championship,” with only two or three real constructors rather than 10 independent ones.
Christian Horner, boss of Red Bull Racing, which also has AlphaTauri as a junior team, said that the outcome of the protest would “dictate strategies for different teams for next year — so a lot weighs on that.”
“The FIA just need to say yes they’re fine with it or obviously no, they’re not,” Horner added. “A ruling on that sooner rather than later for all teams would be beneficial.”
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
Armand Duplantis will be among the reigning Olympic champions adding star power to the world indoor championships this weekend when the Chinese city of Nanjing hosts the first major global athletics meet since the Paris Games last year. The three-day event was originally slated for 2020 and faced multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Nanjing’s Sports Training Center would finally welcome more than 570 athletes for the start of the showpiece today. One of the main attractions would be pole vaulter “Mondo” Duplantis, who soared 6.27m to break the world record for a staggering 11th time in Clermont-Ferrand last
RSS