Formula 1 team Haas has lodged a claim against its competitor Racing Point Force India in order to deprive it of various incomes, relying in particular on a regulation concerning the single-seaters, one learned Thursday, in margin of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The US team also wants its rival not eligible for some seniority bonuses on the grounds that it has returned to zero after the change of ownership this summer. Haas and Racing Point Force India have both been called by commissioners to explain on Friday morning before the first free practice session on the Yas Marina circuit.
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Haas manager Guenther Steiner of Italy spoke on the subject in Abu Dhabi on Thursday with Formula 1 boss Chase Carey of the United States. Haas takes the angle of attack that the regulations of F1 stipulate that all participants must be holders of the intellectual property rights of the design of their car.
But the British company Racing Point Force India, which succeeded the Indian entity Force India following its acquisition last August, has logically continued to engage the same car, the VJM11. Placed in turnaround at the end of July, Force India was acquired by a consortium of investors led by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, father of Williams driver Lance.
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But to avoid being at the mercy of all the debtors of the previous owner, sulfurous Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya, to guarantee the employment of employees and perpetuate the F1 team, the FIA gave his blessing to a pass Pass: the buyers have paid off the debts owed to the suppliers and taken back the assets but did not acquire the company name, to which the property rights are attached.
The team based in Silvertone in return agreed to give up all points won before the GP of Belgium, 13th round of the season. It currently ranks 7th in the constructors' standings, 42 points behind Haas, 5th.
The dispute between the two teams is not new. At the beginning of the season, Force India had questioned Haas's supposedly too close ties with Ferrari, which provided him with his engine.