Renault lodge protest over legality of Racing Point cars

Renault lodged a protest over the legality of the Racing Point cars following the Styrian Grand Prix on Sunday.

Racing Point duo Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll finished sixth and seventh respectively in the second race of the season at the Red Bull Ring.

Renault's Daniel Ricciardo felt he was forced off-track by Stroll in the closings stages and had to settle for eighth spot in a race Lewis Hamilton dominated to take the victory ahead of Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas.

Renault later asked the stewards to look into whether the RP20 complies with regulations.

It has been reported that several teams are disgruntled with the similarities between the Racing Point cars and Mercedes' W10 from 2019.

The Renault protest is regarding two articles in the Sporting Regulation and paragraphs 1, 2(a) and 2(c) from Appendix 6.

The articles relate to ensuring a car is fully eligible before entering the championship. The points cited from Appendix 6 read: "A competitor shall, in respect of the Listed Parts to be used in its cars in Formula 1®, only use Listed Parts which are designed by it.

"It retains the exclusive right to use the Listed Parts in Formula 1® so long as it competes in Formula 1®.

"In the case of the Outsourcing of design, such third party shall not be a competitor or a party that directly or indirectly designs Listed Parts for any competitor."

Renault revealed in a short statement: "We confirm that Renault DP World F1® Team has submitted a request to the Stewards of the Event for clarification on the legality of the Racing Point RP20.

"We have no further comment on this matter until the Stewards have arrived at a decision."