HRT has stepped up the pressure on Caterham with an official complaint to the sports governing body, the FIA, following the outcome of a recent UK High Court case.
The complaint comes after Caterham (Lotus Racing at the time) and AeroLab were found to have copied several CAD files belonging to Force India, with intellectual property having been transferred from those files to the Lotus Racing T127.
A statement from the Spanish outfit confirmed it had made an enquiry with the FIA, following a similar move by Marussia.
“HRT has made an enquiry to the FIA to review the judgement in respect of the UK High Court civil case against Caterham,” a spokesperson confirmed.
“HRT will take any measures that may be considered appropriate. If there have been any illicit moves that may have been beneficial for some and detrimental for our team, HRT will obviously take a stand against it.”
HRT stands to claim the most from any ruling in favour of Force India. Having finished behind Caterham in 2010 and 2011, the outfit would be entitled to Caterham’s column one status if the Tony Fernandes owned outfit were to be found guilty, which would likely result in their results being deemed null and void.
Column one status is awarded to any team which finishes in the top ten in the Constructors’ in two consecutive years. This status entitles the outfit to a share of the sports prize money, amounting to £18 million ($30m).
