Toro Rosso and Renault cleared over indoor Formula 1 test
The FIA has cleared Toro Rosso and Renault of any wrongdoing over an indoor Formula 1 engine test at the Austrian AVL facility earlier this year, AUTOSPORT has learned


Motor racing's governing body was recently forced to react to allegations from an anonymous source that Toro Rosso and Renault may have broken F1's testing restrictions by running on a rolling road with windtunnel capabilities for six days before the start of the season.
It asked Toro Rosso and Renault for details about the test and to confirm that the dyno use was fully in compliance with both testing regulations and tyre rules that prevent cars running on current rubber.
Following discussions between the FIA and the team and engine manufacturer, it has been confirmed that the test was fully in compliance with the rules and the matter is now closed.
Renault said at the time the allegations were made that it did not understand why there would be any suggestion it had done anything wrong.
Its head of trackside operations Remi Taffin said: "As far as we were concerned, it was to support Toro Rosso and try to get one more way to close the [performance] gap that we had at that point.
"Any dynos that would be available we could use - so we took the opportunity. It was just trying to get more dynos than what we had in Viry."

Austria revived F1's feel-good factor
Renault admits big F1 progress tough pre-2015, amid Red Bull anger

Latest news
How Storm Eunice delayed Mercedes' F1 porpoising alarm
Mercedes only got a full grasp of how severe its porpoising issues were in Formula 1 pre-season testing after Storm Eunice impacted its first 2022 car shakedown at Silverstone.
When Indycar conquered F1 - Monzanapolis
Imagine a race between the best of Formula 1 and Indycar drivers.
Hamilton: "Way more" to be done to help progression from W Series
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton believes “way more” needs to be done to help ensure progression from W Series and give women more opportunities in racing.
Autosport Podcast: Ranking the top 10 Arrows F1 drivers
The Arrows Formula 1 team was a mainstay of the world championship for 24 years between 1978 and 2002, with its perennial underdog status earning widespread admiration.
The under-fire F1 driver fighting for his future
Personable, articulate and devoid of the usual racing driver airs and graces, Nicholas Latifi is the last Formula 1 driver you’d expect to receive death threats, but such was the toxic legacy of his part in last year’s explosive season finale. And now, as ALEX KALINAUCKAS explains, he faces a battle to keep his place on the F1 grid…
The strange tyre travails faced by F1’s past heroes
Modern grand prix drivers like to think the tyres they work with are unusually difficult and temperamental. But, says MAURICE HAMILTON, their predecessors faced many of the same challenges – and some even stranger…
The returning fan car revolution that could suit F1
Gordon Murray's Brabham BT46B 'fan car' was Formula 1 engineering at perhaps its most outlandish. Now fan technology has been successfully utilised on the McMurtry Speirling at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, could it be adopted by grand prix racing once again?
Hamilton's first experience of turning silver into gold
The seven-time Formula 1 world champion has been lumbered with a duff car before the 2022 Mercedes. Back in 2009, McLaren’s alchemists transformed the disastrous MP4-24 into a winning car with Lewis Hamilton at the wheel. And now it’s happening again at his current team, but can the rate of progress be matched this year?
Why few could blame Leclerc for following the example of Hamilton’s exit bombshell
OPINION: Ferrari's numerous strategy blunders, as well as some of his own mistakes, have cost Charles Leclerc dearly in the 2022 Formula 1 title battle in the first half of the season. Though he is locked into a deal with Ferrari, few could blame Leclerc if he ultimately wanted to look elsewhere - just as Lewis Hamilton did with McLaren 10 years prior
The other McLaren exile hoping to follow Perez's path to a top F1 seat
After being ditched by McLaren earlier in his F1 career Sergio Perez fought his way back into a seat with a leading team. BEN EDWARDS thinks the same could be happening to another member of the current grid
How studying Schumacher helped make Coulthard a McLaren F1 mainstay
Winner of 13 grands prix including Monaco and survivor of a life-changing plane crash, David Coulthard could be forgiven for having eased into a quiet retirement – but, as MARK GALLAGHER explains, in fact he’s busier than ever, running an award-winning media company and championing diversity in motor racing. Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, wasn’t quite the fastest driver of his generation…
Could F1 move to a future beyond carbonfibre?
Formula 1 has ambitious goals for improving its carbon footprint, but could this include banishing its favoured composite material? PAT SYMONDS considers the alternatives to carbonfibre and what use, if any, those materials have in a Formula 1 setting