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Mercedes Formula 1 boss Toto Wolff has hit out at “a little revolution” of teams forming against Racing Point because rivals are “upset” they lack the same level of performance.
Racing Point has been fined €400,000 and docked 15 constructors’ championship points after Renault successfully protested the team’s brake ducts, which the FIA has ruled count as Mercedes’ design and not Racing Point’s.
It is a complex matter surrounding non-listed parts that Mercedes sold to Racing Point last year becoming listed parts that Racing Point had to design itself for 2020, and is part of a widely-held view among other teams that Racing Point’s RP20 has not been designed in the spirit of the rules.
Racing Point has replicated the aerodynamic philosophy of its engine and gearbox supplier Mercedes’ 2019 car for this season, but apart from the physical brake ducts it received last year it insists that has been done entirely from photography any team could have commissioned.
Renault, McLaren and Ferrari have all complained that Racing Point has taken the usual amount of copying in F1 too far, but Wolff said the criticism was not justified.
“We were surprised in a way because there is the strong belief from everybody who is involved, all the lawyers that were part of this that everything was perfectly within the regulations,” Wolff told Sky Sports F1 when asked about the Racing Point stewards’ verdict.
“The tricky thing is that in 2019 those parts were non listed parts and they became listed parts.
“The non-listed parts were supplied in 2019, full stop, that it what the regulations says.
“The FIA wanted to come up with a solution that kind of lets everybody live.
“Now Racing Point is pretty upset, they believe they have a strong case and they have lawyers ready to go and appeal.
“On the other side what I see is that there is a group forming, a little revolution in every sense.
“And they are trying to go after Racing Point because I guess they are upset that they haven’t got the performance that Racing Point have.”
Wolff made reference to the questions raised in the past over the close nature of Ferrari’s alliance with Haas, which uses Ferrari non-listed parts, and claimed it resulted in a “Ferrari copy” that Mercedes and others “took on the chin”.
But the FIA has admitted the Racing Point issue is “unprecedented” because the brake ducts are the first component to transition from being a non-listed part to a listed part.
And there was no explicit explanation of how that transition needed to be managed, so Racing Point bought Mercedes brake ducts last season and incorporated them into the 2020 design the team produced itself.
Wolff believes the vague regulations were the problem and Racing Point did nothing wrong.
“There was no concrete regulation or technical directive that said you aren’t allowed to use 2019 parts that you have gotten and then redesigned yourself to whatever point in 2020,” said Wolff. “It simply doesn’t say that, so this is exactly what Racing Point did.
“Now the interesting bit is that all the other teams seem to think that they haven’t designed them themselves, which they did because there’s a thousand drawings around and they’ve re-engineered them.
“And it comes to the point, it’s an interpretation of a regulation that doesn’t exist.”
Mercedes was implicated in the protest because it was the supplying team and although there was a transfer of parts in early January this was considered immaterial by the FIA because it related to 2019 components that had already been made available legally last year.
Wolff slammed the notion that Mercedes had acted improperly in any way.
“What benefit should Mercedes have by stepping even one inch over the line and supplying them any parts that are listed? We wouldn’t do that,” he insisted.
“It’s some things that people make up in their minds, because they are supposedly angry with themselves.”
Prior to his appearance on Sky, Wolff had spoken in Friday’s FIA press conference of his frustration over negotiations about the new Concorde Agreement.
Ferrari, McLaren and Williams – among others – have all declared themselves ready to sign new commercial terms designed to make the spread of revenue among the teams more even.
That means those teams forfeiting most of their bonuses they presently enjoy, although Ferrari will still get a big special payment for its historical importance – while Wolff argues Mercedes has not been treated as it should given its contribution to F1.
Speaking to Sky, he suggested that the teams using the media to praise F1 owner Liberty Media and state their willingness to sign the new deal have been difficult behind the scenes.
“Most of the teams, I think 90 percent, are of the opinion that it needs cleaning up, that there are clauses that are critical that need to be discussed around governance and certain commercial aspects,” he said. “But we’re not really able to engage.
“And some of these guys, when they come on camera, they are up the arse of the commercial rights holder and then when we have them in the meeting they are revved up and they are the loudest.
“So I guess it’s about manning up and expressing your opinion.
“We love this sport, we have core objectives that we share with Liberty and with the FIA, we all want to stay in this for the best of the sport.”
