19/07/2020
NEWS STORY
As expected, Renault has once again protested the RP20s of Lance Stroll and Sergio Perez.
The pair finished today's Hungarian Grand Prix in 4th (Stroll) and 7th, having locked out the second row of the grid in qualifying yesterday.
"Protest lodged by Renault DP World F1 Team, alleged breach of Art. 2.1, 3.2, Appendix 6 Paragraph 1, 2(a) and 2(c) of the FIA Formula One Sporting Regulations 2020 during the Race," reads the stewards notice.
The move was predicted at the start of the weekend by the FIA's head of single seater technical matters, Nikolas Tombazis.
"Currently they've protested the Styrian GP," he said. "They have the right to protest other Grands Prix until this matter is adjudicated, and Racing Point have the right to run with these components or other components.
"Depending on whether they feel confident about winning the case or not, and if ultimately, Renault decides to protest every single race, they have the right to do that," he added. "And Racing Point would have that risk to take.
"It's Renault's decision," he continued, "it is certainly not our decision or our desire or anybody's. But I think it is likely we're going to see protests perhaps until this matters adjudicated."
"The stewards gave Racing Point three weeks to submit their document," he revealed. "I think it is fair to say that Racing Point are likely to finish this work earlier than three weeks. I'm not sure, it's their prerogative, but I expect they would have a submission to make in the coming week.
"And so I expect the stewards would convene sometime probably the week before Silverstone. But again, that depends on when Racing Point complete their submission, and we - the FIA technical department - complete our submission. But it's likely a possible adjudication date is the week before the first Silverstone.
"Under normal circumstances, the stewards would decide within a few hours, or a day or so from that hearing. Theoretically, the team that is less happy with the stewards’ decision can then decide to appeal, and it goes to the International Court of Appeal.
"And then of course, it's another set of preparations and lawyers and submissions involved. So that could probably take us to the week after Spanish Grand Prix, or something along those lines. "Theoretically, their decision is going to be the final one. So we're talking towards late August, that we could have a final decision in this matter if teams decide to go to the ultimate extent of appealing."
Check out our Race Day gallery from Budapest, here.