Haas lodge protest against Force India about regulation breach

Haas F1 have lodged a protest against Racing Point Force India, as the American team thinks they breached the rules when it comes to the construction of the Pink Panthers' car.

The FIA revealed this in a press release today. The FIA stewards will hear Haas F1's protest on Friday ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend.

Although the FIA didn't state what exactly Force India are upset about, Crash.net reports that "it relates to the intellectual property of the Force India car, and whether there is a breach of the regulations."

The regulations do allow teams to outsource certain parts of the car in terms of design and manufacturing, but they do have to “retain the exclusive right to use the Listed Parts in Formula 1 so long as it competes in Formula 1” according to regulations.

"[No competitor can] pass on or receive any information on Listed Parts (including but not limited to data, designs or drawings) directly to or from another competitor or via an external entity or third party.”

Force India's car was constructed by the team itself but by a different ownership (Sahara Force India). After changing names in July to Racing Point Force India, the VJM11 is technically built by a different party.

Haas will not comment on the matter before the meeting takes place at 11am local time on Friday in Abu Dhabi.