10 Biggest Formula One Controversies
2. 'Tracing Point' And 'Copycat' Cars Leading To F1's Civil War Amidst A Pandemic
With the Covid-19 pandemic abound, there was a divisive issue amongst the Formula One paddock right before the signing of the new agreement that would ensure the teams continued participation in Formula One past 2020.
In the 2020 pre-season tests, there were some eyebrows raised at the similarity of the Racing Point's 2020 Formula One challenger from the 2019 title-winning Mercedes. The idea came down to Racing Point team using the brake ducts purchased from the Mercedes AMG team in the previous season (which was allowed in 2019).
Renault and Ferrari issued a complaint to the FIA on the legality of the Racing Point Formula One teams being supported by longtime rivals McLaren. Alfa Romeo, Williams and Red Bull also announced their displeasure at being able to run a copycat Mercedes essentially whilst they had to build their cars completely in-house (Red Bull in particular had been on the receiving end of such controversy back in 2008 when customer cars were banned and their junior team Toro Rosso had to build their cars in-house).
Eventually, the FIA decided to penalize Racing Point €400,000 and 15 Constructors' points, but they were allowed to continue using the parts up to the end of the season due to a loophole in the regulations which the FIA had overlooked. Whilst the rest of the teams were unhappy with the perceived leniency of the punishment, they eventually withdrew their protests and decided to let the situation peter out.