Five teams lodge intention to appeal following Racing Point verdict

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Five teams lodge intention to appeal following Racing Point verdict

It's Williams, Renault, McLaren and Ferrari versus Racing Point

Sam Hall

Saturday 8 August 2020 11:24 Updated: 12:19

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Williams, McLaren, Ferrari and Renault have announced their intention to appeal the leniency of the penalty dished out by the FIA to Racing Point.

Racing Point was handed a 15-point constructors' penalty and a €400,000 fine for running illegal rear brake ducts after the FIA ruled the part was predominantly designed by Mercedes and not the Silverstone based team.

However, with each position in the constructors' standings worth tens of millions of dollars, some teams have taken the view the penalty is a token gesture.

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Added to the frustration is the fact Racing Point is allowed to run the brake ducts for the remainder of the season.

The five teams involved have a further 96 hours to determine whether they will now formally appeal.

As McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl told Sky Sports F1: "We are part of a legal process now, so I don't want to comment further on it.

"In the end, we put in our intention to appeal yesterday night to buy us some time, to look through further and decide the next steps on our side."

Ferrari acted first, announcing its intention to appeal early on Friday evening. Team principal Mattia Binotto stated the Scuderia is hoping for "clarifications" as to what is and is not permitted within the sporting regulations.

McLaren confirmed to GPFans it had unsurprisingly followed suit. The appeal seemed a certainty after CEO Zak Brown said openly the stewards' decision had proven claims the RP20 had been designed by photography as being "BS, and therefore you have to question anything else around that car."

Williams and Renault are yet to comment on its appeals.

Racing Point team principal Otmar Szafnauer believes the findings prove the RP20 is legal and has questioned how a car as such can be subject to a penalty.

He told Sky Sports F1: "My take is that the good news from the judgment is that the car is completely legal from a technical perspective so we can continue to run the brake ducts. It's just a matter of the process which is in the sporting regulations.

"We read the sporting regulations, there was nothing specific in there that says we couldn't do what we did. Other teams have done exactly the same, more than what we did in a way, so it's a bit bewildering."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff voiced his support for Racing Point and his belief the team has done nothing wrong. The team has elected not to join the appeal.