Breaking news
Formula 1
Renault denies it broke "gentleman's agreement" with Haas protest
Renault has denied Haas boss Gunther Steiner's suggestion that the Enstone team broke a gentleman's agreement by protesting Romain Grosjean's car following the Italian GP.
Adam Cooper
Published: Sep 14, 2018, 2:14 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The Frenchman finished sixth on the road, but was subsequently excluded by the stewards after Renault lodged a protest regarding the Haas car's floor.
Haas subsequently appealed, and the appeal will be heard in Paris on November 1.
Haas boss Steiner pointed out that it has been many years since a team protested a rival's car after a race, suggesting that there's a gentleman's agreement between teams that they don't attempt to catch each other out with post-race protests.
However, Renault's executive director Marcin Budkowski says in this case the matter was well known, as it was the subject of a Technical Directive that had been circulated to all the teams, and that the onus was on Haas to ensure that its car complied.
"We all look at each other's cars on a regular basis," he told Motorsport.com. "Us and I think quite a few other teams spotted a few races ago, because I think it was a floor that was introduced in Canada.
"It's true that there hasn't been a protest for a long time. It's not a question of a gentleman's agreement or not a gentleman's agreement, they were given a number of races by the FIA to make that floor legal.
"We didn't have a problem with the time they were given. But they didn't respect this time. I don't think they were really caught by surprise there.
"What I think Gunther is probably referring to is that if we spotted something illegal on a car, we wouldn't protest immediately, we would probably talk to the FIA or to a team before to sort it out.
"The TD was pretty public, wasn't it? I think we were expecting like everybody else that they would come with a floor that complies with the technical regulations in Monza. We were surprised that they didn't."
Budkowski wouldn't confirm whether or not the Monza protest was a direct result of Grosjean finishing in the points and ahead of Nico Hulkenberg, and that it wouldn't have been made had neither of Haas cars made the top 10.
"After the race we gathered and we decided whether or not we were happy to let it go and have a car that was blatantly illegal, and in the face of a TD that it didn't comply with.
"We decided that we were not happy with competing with a car that didn't comply with the technical regulations, it's as simple as that."
Renault intends to state its case at the appeal in Paris:
"Haas is appealing the decision of the stewards. We have made a request to be heard as an interested party," Budkowski added.
"We don't know whether we are going to be allowed to do so, but we are an interested party for obvious reasons, we made the protest. But the rest of it is really between the International Court of Appeal and Haas."
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Singapore GP: Raikkonen tops FP2, setback for Vettel
Next article Red Bull: Buemi F1 race return very unlikely
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Renault F1 Team
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
Does Daniel Ricciardo regret leaving Red Bull for Renault?
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
Formula 1
Brazilian GP
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Formula 1
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Latest news
Conquest Racing locks in 2027 IMSA GTD lineup with Manny Franco full-time return
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 18 min
Conquest Racing locks in 2027 IMSA GTD lineup with Manny Franco full-time return
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
WEC
WEC WEC 43 min
Malthe Jakobsen completes McLaren's WEC Hypercar driver line-up
Fermin Aldeguer defends himself after Francesco Bagnaia crash: “It wasn’t a crazy move”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Qatar GP
1 h
Fermin Aldeguer defends himself after Francesco Bagnaia crash: “It wasn’t a crazy move”
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe