Szafnauer relieved: "The car itself is just completely legal"

For Racing Point, the result of Renault's protest came as a bit of a surprise. The FIA decided to punish the team on the basis of the sporting regulations, as the team had copied the brakes from Mercedes. Team boss Otmar Szafnauer explains to Sky Sports how he sees the result of the protest.

"The positive aspect of the FIA's verdict is that the car is completely legal from a technical point of view, so we can just keep using our brakes. It's just about the process, which is part of the sporting regulations. In the same sporting regulations, nowhere did we say that we did something that was not allowed, so the FIA verdict came as a surprise."

"It's now up to us to decide if we're going to challenge our punishment. I'm just happy that we can continue with the current car and that we don't have to change anything. The car itself is completely legal," says Szafnauer. According to the FIA, Racing Point has only violated the sporting regulations, which is why there has only been a fine and deduction in points as punishment.

Since last season, the brakes are one of the parts that must be unique to each team. Szafnauer explains that they were behind that decision and it's weird that the teams are now protesting about it. "We had the deciding vote on that part then, we supported Renault. So it hurts to see that they are against us now," Szafnauer concluded.