Renault gets Romain Grosjean’s Haas disqualified
Following a complaint filed by Renault, the Monza stewards decided to disqualify Romain Grosjean's Haas for a non-compliant floor. Sergey Sirotkin therefore enters the points.
The battle between Renault and Haas is getting tighter in the Constructors’ Championship. All tactics are allowed to defend their position, whether on track or off. Thus, after the Monza Grand Prix, the American team moved up to fourth place overall, thanks to Romain Grosjean’s impressive 6th place finish. While both teams had the same number of points, Romain Grosjean’s fourth place in Austria made the difference.
But that was without considering the complaint filed by Renault against its rival for non-compliance of the flat floor of its single-seaters. After long deliberations, the FIA decided to side with the French team, as a technical directive published on July 25 required teams to modify their flat floor by the Italian Grand Prix.
At the time, Haas had stated that this deadline was very short, particularly due to the three-week shutdown imposed on the teams. This is even more true for the team led by Günther Steiner since it heavily depends on the parts supplied by Dallara, which manufactures its chassis. Haas had communicated this to the FIA via email exchanges. With no response from the FIA, the team operated under the assumption that “silence implies consent.”
However, the FIA stated that this was not the case and that even though it understood the logistical constraints imposed on the teams during this slow period, it noted that at least one other team had been able to make the modifications within the allotted time.
Renault is doubly victorious in this case since not only do Romain Grosjean and Haas lose their collected points, but also, Carlos Sainz is promoted to 8th position. This allows Renault to now have a 10-point lead over its rivals. This decision also delights Racing Point Force India, which regains the 7th place, despite the removal of all its points before the Belgian Grand Prix.
Williams can also be satisfied to see Sergey Sirotkin score points for the first time in his career. As a result, all the drivers on the grid will have scored at least one point this season. To find at least 20 drivers with a point scored, you have to go back to the 2005 season where 24 drivers achieved such a performance despite only the top 8 being rewarded.
