A few days ago, Rob Leupen (Toyota) made critical comments about the BoP – The FIA considers this a “serious breach of the rules” – Heavy suspended fine
Ahead of the fifth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) in Sao Paulo, Rob Leupen, Managing Director of Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, was critical of the Balance of Performance (BoP): The Dutchman called for more transparency – and has now received a direct response!
The FIA has found a “serious breach of the regulations”, or more precisely the controversial “BoP muzzle”, and has fined Toyota 10,000 euros – albeit suspended.
In an interview with the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com, Leupen referred to the classification for the Le Mans 24h race in 2023, which, according to him, “does not comply with the applicable regulations”.
The TGR Europe managing director also said that the FIA’s process in 2024 “is not transparent” and that “honesty is needed in the future”. A clear criticism against the BoP – and this has been banned since the 2023 season!
Article 6.2.1 of the Sporting Regulations states verbatim: “Manufacturers, competitors, drivers and any person or entity associated with participants must not attempt to influence the determination of the BoP or comment on the results, in particular through public statements, in the media and on social networks. “
BoP criticism “causes moral damage “
“Any infringement of the above principles will be penalized by the stewards at any time during the competition, including after the race.” This is exactly what the FIA has now done for the first time: Toyota must pay a fine of 10,000 euros if similar comments are made about the BoP this year!
The FIA’s reasoning states that “these statements call into question the impartiality of the FIA and its integrity, causing moral damage, especially as the press article in question was distributed in several countries.”
And further: “In addition, these statements have the direct consequence of calling into question the integrity of the sporting results of the World Championship and damaging its credibility.” The stewards consider the statements to be “a serious breach of the regulations”.
In view of the fact that this is the first application of these regulations in the championship, the FIA has decided to suspend the fine for the remainder of the 2024 season, provided that there are no further breaches of these regulations by persons associated with the participant.
