Renault drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were disqualified from the Japanese Grand Prix on Wednesday after their team was punished for breaching regulations over brakes, the governing body FIA announced.
Ricciardo was sixth and Hulkenberg 10th in the race at Suzuka on October 13 but the French team will now lose the nine points accrued by the Australian driver.
“Renault have been disqualified from the results of the Japanese Grand Prix after a protest brought by rivals Racing Point was upheld,” said an FIA statement.
“Racing Point’s protest regarded an alleged breach of the Sporting and Technical Regulations and the FIA International Sporting Code, relating to a ‘pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system’.”
Racing Point’s Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat will now be classified ninth and tenth respectively at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly, and Racing Point’s Sergio Perez moving up to sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.
Renault said later Wednesday that the team could appeal the sanction.
“Considering the subjectivity of the qualification of a system as a driver aid and the variability of the associated penalties in recent cases, Renault F1 Team will consider its next course of action within the timeframe laid out by the FIA,” they said.
Revised Japanese GP results:
Valtteri Bottas (Mercedes), Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari), Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes), Alexander Albon (Red Bull-Honda), Carlos Sainz Jr (McLaren-Renault), Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso-Honda), Sergio Pérez (Racing Point-Mercedes), Lance Stroll (Racing Point-Mercedes), Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso-Honda)