Renault has requested to withdraw its appeal against the FIA stewards’ decision on the Racing Point brake duct design controversy.
Racing Point was hit with a 15-point penalty, a fine of €400,000, and repeated reprimands after its rear brake ducts were found to have been illegally designed because they were based on Mercedes design data.
Both Renault and Ferrari had lodged formal appeals against the decision, with McLaren and Williams initially notifying the FIA of their intent to do so but not going ahead.
The Race understands that Ferrari is pressing on with its appeal as “clarity is required” on the design regulations according to Mattia Binotto.
According to a team statement, Renault explained that the changes to the regulations planned for next season to prevent so-called “copycat cars” was the reason for withdrawing the appeal.
The statement said: “Beyond the decisions, the matters at issue were vital to the integrity of Formula 1, both during the current season and in the future.
“However, intensive and constructive work between the FIA, Renault DP World F1 Team and all Formula 1 stakeholders has led to concrete progress in safeguarding the originality in the sport by way of amendments to the sporting and technical regulations planned for the 2021 racing season, confirming the requirements to qualify as a constructor.
“Reaching this strategic objective, in the context of the new Concorde Agreement, was our priority.
“The controversy of the start of this season should be put behind us, as we need to focus on the remainder of an intense and unique championship.”
Renault team principal Cyril Abiteboul had said ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix earlier this month that he wanted to see a more significant points penalty for Racing Point.
But the team had also stressed its focus was also on ensuring teams could not copy rival designs too closely and supported the moves announced by FIA head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis at Silverstone in early August to prevent teams copying whole cars.
Racing Point also has an appeal in place against the verdict with both team principal Otmar Szafnauer and Lawrence Stroll, who heads the consortium that owns the team, insisting the team should be cleared.
