Almost four hours after today's Japanese Grand Prix the Suzuka stewards revealed that Racing Point had lodged a protest against Renault concerning an alleged pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system on its cars.

The stewards summoned and heard from representatives of both teams and a representative of the FIA Technical Department.

The stewards subsequently determined that the protest met all requirements specified in Article 13 of the International Sporting Code and is, therefore, admissible. This point was agreed to by the representatives of the Renault team.

The FIA Technical Department representative was directed to seal and impound the FIA standard electronic control units and steering wheels of both cars in preparation for conducting a detailed analysis of those pieces.

The representative was further directed to conduct a detailed analysis of the hardware, software, and data associated with them and, when complete, provide a written report to the stewards with their findings, to include an assessment that matches those findings against the potential technical infringements detailed in the protest.

The representative is authorized in the name of the stewards to call upon such outside technical assistance, including representatives of Renault and Racing Point, in the conduct of their assessment.

When the likely submission date of the assessment can be determined, the FIA Technical Department representative will communicate that to the Chairman of the Stewards so that the next meeting time to assess the claims made in the protest can be scheduled.

In reaction to the move, Renault issued a brief statement of its own.

"Team representatives have met with the stewards of the event at Suzuka, but due to the complexity of the 12-page dossier prepared by SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team, a further meeting will take place at a future date, to be defined," it read.

"Renault intends to use this recess to prepare an equally detailed case to rigorously defend its position."

Check out our Sunday gallery from Suzuka, here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by imejl99, 14/10/2019 13:34

"English Tony,

Maybe I am naive, but looking at onboard camera footage can make you suspicious if there is no driver input, or there is just few. Also, driving behind, at that level of skill, I assume they can see something is not correct.
Like playing video game vs computer ;)

I am not excluding inside info, just considering options..."

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2. Posted by English Tony, 13/10/2019 18:41

"This is very odd & perhaps I am wrong but I can't see how you'd spot this by simply observing the car, which suggests that it's inside information

If it's inside information why didn't the whistle blower go direct to the FIA?

"

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3. Posted by Sennapod, 13/10/2019 18:32

"This sounds a bit like an electronic version of the ‘water ballast’ that teams used to carry in the early 80s (I recall allegedly for brake cooling), that was disposed of through the race, leaving them nice and light at the finish but meeting minimum weight requirements at the start."

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Racing Point lodges protest against Renault

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