Wolff happy for 'pink Mercedes' affair to go to court

Aug.12 (GMM) Toto Wolff says he is not worried about Mercedes’ name being dragged through the mud over the Racing Point car copying affair.

An appeal against the leniency of the stewards’ recent ruling on the legality of the ‘pink Mercedes’ will go ahead, the original protester Renault has announced.

In a statement, the French team said it wants a “clear and enforceable regulatory framework that will ensure all teams participating in the 2021 season will develop their original aerodynamic concept by themselves”.

Ferrari is joining the protest, but McLaren is not.

The withdrawal of McLaren’s support for the appeal is notable, after Zak Brown described Racing Point’s claim about how the team copied the 2019 Mercedes from photos as “BS”.

Racing Point boss Otmar Szafnauer had responded: “He’s got no idea what he’s talking about. Zero.

“It seems to me he knows more about historic racing than he does about F1.”

McLaren is switching to Mercedes power for 2021, so retreating from the fray over the ‘pink Mercedes’ affair could be because of that.

Indeed, Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto says Mercedes is more than implicated in the saga.

“The violation is like copying homework,” he told Sky Italia. “There are those who copy and those who pass it on.”

Binotto added: “This is just the beginning. (Lawrence) Stroll and Wolff may be angry, but there was an injury of the regulations here.”

Red Bull’s Christian Horner agrees: “If the team in question are guilty of receiving, surely the team that has provided has been also in breach of the regulations.”

Wolff says Mercedes will not shy away from the fight.

“We are happy to go to court,” he insists.

“We have not been protested, we have done nothing wrong. I strongly believe Racing Point have done nothing wrong.

“I believe if it goes to the international court of appeal, the lawyers have a strong opinion that this is a case that has very solid pillars,” Wolff added.

“Our reputation is important but it is intact.”