17/07/2020
NEWS STORY
It is with a certain amount of irony that McLaren team boss, Andreas Seidl shared his opinion of the (t)Racing Point saga this morning, the Woking outfit having been fined $100m and excluded from the 2007 championship for its role in the infamous Spygate saga.
Seidl was asked about the ongoing investigation into the RP20, Racing Point's 2020 contender which bears a number of 'similarities' to the 2019 Mercedes.
So much so that the FIA has rendered Renault's protest of the cars admissible and subsequently impounded a number of components.
The investigation could have far reaching consequences for the sport, for it not only questions the integrity of Racing Point, it could also show that Mercedes was complicit.
Speaking at today's press conference, Seidl admitted that he feels the investigation is necessary if only to set a precedent for the sport moving forward.
"We don't know all the details, but to be honest how outspoken and proud Racing Point are about running a one-year old Mercedes, I would be surprised if anything has been done that is not in accordance, or possible with exploring the limits of the regulations," he said.
"This protest is another key element on making some clarifications, on the FIA and F1 side of what they want Formula 1 to be in the future," he continued. "Do they want that Formula 1 is ending up in a copying championship? In a championship where you end up with two or three constructors' or manufacturers', and we simply have then more cars of one manufacturer or constructor on-track? Which we definitely think is the wrong way to go for Formula 1, and is not a sustainable way.
"Formula 1 always has been a competition between ten constructors', where the final car in the end is the result of the know-how, the power, the engineering power you have built up within your own team over years," he continued. "When you think about sharing suspension bits for example, it's not just about sharing a part or sharing a design. A suspension part is the result of experience you build up within the team over many, many years.
"Each part of a Formula 1 car is part of the entire car concept. That's something Formula 1 simply has to decide which way they want to go.
"Our position is clear, what we want to see, and it's important to get these clarifications now in order to also make up our mind on how we see our future as a team. But we clearly want to be our own independent team with our own identity, and yeah. So looking forward to the outcome of this."
Asked, should the FIA give clearance to the RP20, the sport risked no longer being a championship comprising ten independent constructors, he admitted: "There's definitely the risk.
"I think this protest, again we don't know all the details behind it, I think it doesn't cover the entire topic that I described before, but it's one element of it. And obviously every clarification we get now I think simply can help chasing that direction."
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