Renault in deep doo-doo ?

[Bagwan]

Force Racing Point have lodged a protest against Renault , alleging they are using an automatic brake bias adjustment arrangement on the cars .

Teams don't generally do this without proof , and thus , a 12 page document was submitted and deemed worthy of investigation by the FIA .

It's unclear where the info originated at this point , but with a well produced dossier , we can assume it was well before the last GP .

They could be in real trouble here .
Exclusion from the championship is possible if such a rule breach is found to have been on the cars all year .

And , F1 could be in real trouble here , too , as Renault have recent form with quitting after a fall .
And this comes right when there are rumblings of new teams sniffing around the French team's doorstep , looking at engine options .

They must really hate those pink guys right now .

[Duncan]

I saw this reported at the weekend, but haven't seen any other details.

I'm assuming that RP deduced that there was something off by looking at the onboard footage. You can see quite clearly which buttons and dials are being activated, and I'm assuming that the teams all have somebody analyzing how their competitors systems work, if nothing else other than to try to decode their radio messages.

[Bagwan]

I saw this reported at the weekend, but haven't seen any other details.

I'm assuming that RP deduced that there was something off by looking at the onboard footage. You can see quite clearly which buttons and dials are being activated, and I'm assuming that the teams all have somebody analyzing how their competitors systems work, if nothing else other than to try to decode their radio messages.

That is one possible explanation .
But , it could also be a team member who moved from Renault to RP .

Or , as is the fashion right now , a whistle blower from within Renault .

[Tazio]

That is one possible explanation .
But , it could also be a team member who moved from Renault to RP .

Or , as is the fashion right now , a whistle blower from within Renault .

Ralf thinks this is a distinct possibility:


“Such a thing cannot happen without the knowledge of the drivers,” he told Sky Germany (https://sport.sky.de/formel1/artikel/irregulaeres-bremssystem-renault-bangt-um-japan-punkte/11836127/34270).“Otherwise you had to do it manually – and if you do not have to do it all at once, you will notice that.”
The German speculated that a ‘whistleblower’ must have been involved otherwise how would Racing Point know so much about Renault’s alleged system.
Actually, I think this is something you could ascertain by watching on board footage!

[Bagwan]

Ralf thinks this is a distinct possibility:


Actually, I think this is something you could ascertain by watching on board footage!

Are you intimating that the whistle blower might be a driver who won't be there next season ?

[N. Jones]

That would ruin his career.

[Duncan]

That is one possible explanation .
But , it could also be a team member who moved from Renault to RP .

Or , as is the fashion right now , a whistle blower from within Renault .

The problem I see with this is that the dossier apparently provided to the FIA would likely have to consist exclusively of data from public sources. If it contained any confidential internal documents, that would raise a whole other set of issues that I would expect RP to want to avoid.

[Bagwan]

The problem I see with this is that the dossier apparently provided to the FIA would likely have to consist exclusively of data from public sources. If it contained any confidential internal documents, that would raise a whole other set of issues that I would expect RP to want to avoid.

You're right , but it could be just a nod as to where to look for proof , if you know they are cheating .
Certainly , with all the movement between teams for various employees , the higher up the chain , the more valuable you are .
NDAs only go so far , which is why we have gardening leave for the highest of clearances .
And , people only leave for money , or being unhappy sometimes because of money .
Even people of lesser status can hear conversations in the pub , and nerdy programmer types aren't known for their alcohol skills . ECUs have been seized , so who knows ?

Besides , the real issue is the cheating , if it's true .
I think RP would only face serious scrutiny if they hadn't said a word , and utilized the idea themselves .
That would place it in the "spygate" category .

[Duncan]

You're right , but it could be just a nod as to where to look for proof , if you know they are cheating .
Certainly , with all the movement between teams for various employees , the higher up the chain , the more valuable you are .
NDAs only go so far , which is why we have gardening leave for the highest of clearances .
And , people only leave for money , or being unhappy sometimes because of money .
Even people of lesser status can hear conversations in the pub , and nerdy programmer types aren't known for their alcohol skills . ECUs have been seized , so who knows ?

Besides , the real issue is the cheating , if it's true .
I think RP would only face serious scrutiny if they hadn't said a word , and utilized the idea themselves .
That would place it in the "spygate" category .

Yes, agreed that there might be some kind of insider tip that started the chain of investigation. They could have then laundered the information by reconstructing it from public data (like onboards).

Be interesting to see where this goes. Presumably the FIA believe that the behaviour can be reproduced easily enough.

[airshifter]

It seems that things are slow to be reported on this case. We know about the protest, and that the FIA grabbed some equipment to check, but then all has fallen silent.

I would tend to think that it would almost have to come from inside information, but then again everyone is watching everyone so close that maybe it didn't.


Until they release something it's just time to hurry up and wait. But this could end up being a big fall if they are caught cheating.

[The Black Knight]

It seems that things are slow to be reported on this case. We know about the protest, and that the FIA grabbed some equipment to check, but then all has fallen silent.

I would tend to think that it would almost have to come from inside information, but then again everyone is watching everyone so close that maybe it didn't.


Until they release something it's just time to hurry up and wait. But this could end up being a big fall if they are caught cheating.

We should say caught cheating again. Remembering Singapore GP 2008 Crash gate.

[The Black Knight]

Renault disqualified from Japanese GP.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/146726/renault-disqualified-after-using-illegal-driver-aid