F1: Twist in civil war as McLaren withdraws Racing Point appeal

There’s been another development in the controversial ruling that has drawn battle lines on the F1 grid as teams prepare to go to war.

Racing Point isn’t going down without a fight.

McLaren has pulled out of its appeal against the leniency of penalties handed down to Racing Point but Ferrari and Renault will plough on.

Racing Point was fined $AUD660,000 and docked 15 points after being found guilty of using illegal car parts, which were ruled to have been designed by Mercedes.

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Authorities determined the team’s brake ducts were copied from Mercedes’ 2019 championship-winning car and while Racing Point admits it used the Silver Arrows as inspiration, it denies doing anything illegal.

Despite the sanctions, Racing Point has been allowed to continue using the parts.

Renault has protested repeatedly this year about its rivals’ brake ducts but despite the verdict coming down in its favour, Daniel Ricciardo’s outfit doesn’t believe the punishment is harsh enough.

Renault, Ferrari and McLaren confirmed on the weekend they would appeal against Racing Point’s sanctions, demanding further action be taken. But McLaren has now withdrawn its appeal and Williams, who earlier signalled its intent to appeal, is waiting to make a final decision.

“McLaren Racing has decided not to appeal the decisions of the FIA Stewards in relation to Renault’s protests of Racing Point,” McLaren said in a statement.

“The team welcomes the Stewards’ decisions and findings in this case and importantly that the FIA has demonstrated that transgressions of the rules will be investigated and punished.

“Moreover, McLaren Racing is pleased that the FIA will further clarify the sporting and technical regulations to protect Formula 1 as a sport where teams are clearly defined as Constructors, and removes the potential that the Formula 1 World Championship includes cars that are, in effect, copies of other competitors.”

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Renault said in a statement it will continue with its appeal and work with F1’s governing body the FIA to “ensure all teams participating in the 2021 season will develop their original aerodynamic concept by themselves”.

On the other side, Racing Point said it plans to appeal against the severity of the sanctions, adamant it has done nothing wrong. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer told Sky Sports on the weekend the punishment was “bewildering”.

“We need to appeal it because we stayed completely within the regulations, both sporting and technical,” Szafnauer said. “And we need to clear our name.

“We shouldn’t be losing 15 points and we shouldn’t be charged €400,000 ($660,000). We did absolutely nothing wrong.

“Formula 1 is all about exploiting the regulations to their limit. You have to look at what’s written, and not written, to exploit the regulations.

“Just because we did a good job and we have a competitive car, doesn’t mean we did anything wrong.

“We did design it completely ourselves and we manufactured it completely ourselves. We did not get a part from Mercedes, at all.”

Racing Point has vowed to clear its name.