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Williams is joining McLaren in not pursuing its appeal of the stewards’ decision regarding the legality of Formula 1 rival Racing Point’s brake ducts because its wider concern has been satisfied.
Racing Point was fined €400,000 and docked 15 constructors’ championship points after being found to have illegally copied Mercedes’ rear brake ducts using information acquired in 2018 and 2019, before brake ducts were not allowed to be transferred between teams.
Williams was among four teams that expressed its intent to appeal the decision on the grounds it disagreed with the leniency of the punishment, as Racing Point is allowed to keep using the parts. Racing Point also expressed its intent to appeal, as it insists it has done nothing wrong and wants to clear its name.
Ferrari and Renault are going ahead with their appeals, but McLaren withdrew on Tuesday evening ahead of a Wednesday morning deadline to confirm.
Williams has elected not to proceed with the formal appeal because of the FIA’s pledge to make wholesale copies of cars illegal from 2021 – which is the wider concern at the heart of this specific protest of Racing Point’s brake ducts.
Racing Point has copied Mercedes’ 2019 title-winning car’s aerodynamic philosophy, which has frustrated rivals.
The team insists the wider aero replication was done legally through extensive photography, although rivals do not believe this and have suggested that the replication of Mercedes’ brake ducts from last year warrants a deeper investigation into how Racing Point produced the wider car concept.
Last week FIA head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis said that F1 should not be a championship where copying rivals becomes the norm after Racing Point “took this to another level”.
And Williams says this was its primary issue, so has effectively opted to take the outcome of the specific brake ducts’ case on the chin.
“We believe the FIA’s decision to seek the prohibition of extensive car copying for 2021 onwards addresses our most fundamental concern and reasserts the role and responsibility of a constructor within the sport, which is fundamental to Formula 1’s DNA and Williams core beliefs and principles,” said Williams in a statement.
Tombazis said last week that Racing Point should not be penalised for copying the Mercedes aerodynamic concept but wants copying on such a big scale to not be possible in the future.
McLaren’s statement about its decision not to appeal also referred to Tombazis’s vow, and said it will “follow proceedings with interest” regarding the ongoing brake ducts row.
McLaren and Williams not going ahead with the appeal also means the two teams will not go against Mercedes, which has sided with Racing Point.
Williams is presently a Mercedes customer team while McLaren will return to using Mercedes engines next year.
But Renault, which lodged the original protest, is the team with the most assertive position as it is pursuing the appeal and lobbying the FIA for a swift regulatory resolution too.
“In the meantime, we will continue to work intensively with the FIA and all stakeholders to develop and implement a clear and enforceable regulatory framework that will ensure all teams participating in the 2021 season will develop their original aerodynamic concept by themselves,” Renault said.
