Renault Formula 1 chief Cyril Abiteboul has confirmed thไe team used its now-outlawed brake bias adjustment system for “many years” before the FIA’s ruling on the device earlier this week.

The FIA-appointed stewards for the Japanese Grand Prix disqualified Re🌃nault drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenbeꦛrg from the race at Suzuka after deeming the team had breached t🅠he sporting regulation 🌺that requires the car to be driven “alone and unaided”.

The ruling came following a protest from Racing Po🀅int, who initially inquired about running a similar system on its own cars earlier in the year.

Abiteꦚboul said that Renault had not gone to the FIA to confirm the legality of its system as it had no concerns it was within the regulations and it had been used for some time, later expanding that it had been on the car for “many years꧃”.

“We were absolutely convinced, as further demonstrat🐬ed, that we were legal, and we were legal from a technical perspective,” Abiteboul said.

“It’s a driver aid. A number of things are driver aids. At ꧑some point, you need to accept that there’s an element of subjectivity. ဣIt’s been used for so many years that we never thought it could be put into question until what happened recently.”

Asked how long it had been on the car, Abiteboul said: “I don’t want to go into the details, but it’s not from this season. It’s not from this season, it’s fr♔om before.”

Renault issued a robust response to the penalty following the decision, saying the sanction was disproportionate, with Abiteboul furth♛ering the team’s case on Friday in Mexico.

“We do no𒁃t deny that i༒t is a form of a driver aid - not to make the car faster but to reduce the workload of the drivers. So then it was always going to be a bit of a subjective assessment as to how far it is really aiding the driver and whether it’s acceptable or not,” he said.

“The stewards have judged it that it’s not acceptable, so be it. I would prefer to put that behind us. For me it is harsh on the team. It’s also even harsher on drivers becꦓause it’s a very poor recognition of what they are doing.

“It is shedding a negative light on what the൲y are doing, the way they are performing in the car. I can almost see people on some blogs thinking that the car is braking automatically, which is clearly not what is happening.”

Additional reporting by Julianne Cerasoli.