OCTOBER 28, 2019

Villeneuve slams Racing Point over Renault saga

Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at the way both the FIA and Racing Point handled the recent saga involving Renault's outlawed brake balance system.

Jacques Villeneuve has hit out at the way both the FIA and Racing Point handled the recent saga involving Renault's outlawed brake balance system.

Racing Point lodged a protest after Suzuka, and while the FIA said the technology is technically legal, it was deemed a 'driver aid' and Renault's drivers were disqualified.

Villeneuve, the 1997 world champion, admits that the system would have helped Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg.

"What I find wrong is how the penalty was managed," he said in Mexico.

"The system has been there for a long time, so if a car is considered legal time and time again, it should not be possible to later say that it is not according to the sporting rules.

"Either it's legal or it's not legal, end of story."

Villeneuve also criticised the way Racing Point handled the protest.

"All the teams have known that the system exists for a long time, so the way Racing Point went looking for points at Suzuka was cheap," he said.

"I think it's going to come back at them, because there are some ways in which the teams don't behave with each other."

(GMM)