Why Don't Midfield Teams Copy the Faster Cars?

People believe that Racing Point copied the 2019 Mercedes W10 EQ Power, which was a championship winning car. For testing and the first two races of the season, nobody protested Racing Point's Pink Mercedes. However, following the second race of the season, Renault formally protested the Racing Point. So far, the FIA have deemed it legal, (before the protest which we haven't heard from yet). So if it is legal, why don't slower teams copy the fastest car?

Racing Point shows much resemblance to last years Mercedes W10, and don't forget that Racing Point uses Mercedes parts. During testing, the Racing Point showed amazing pace, and the opening races showed that the car was challenging top teams like Red Bull and Ferrari! Renault protested that the Racing Point copied to much of the Mercedes W10. In Formula One, you are only allowed to copy a strict list of parts from other teams, the rest have to be designed on your own. The things that are listed have to be designed by teams themselves, such as the bodywork, front impact structures, roll structures, and the survival cell. The things that are not listed such as gearbox, power units, and brakes can be bought from other teams or outside suppliers. You're also not allowed to outsource any design. If you break this rule, the penalties are extreme and can completely ruin a whole season for a team. Remember the spy gate scandal in 2007, when McLaren stole and used Ferrari's technical information. McLaren were caught and fined a $100,000,000 fine, plus being banned from the constructors championship. Now what makes copying other team's cars so hard? It's all about design concepts. Each team has their own design concept and their idea on how to make the fastest car. Let's look at the difference between the 2020 Mercedes F1 car and the 2020 Redbull F1 car. Mercedes generally build a long, low, and flat car, whereas Red Bull build a shorter car with a steeper rake angle. Both methods work but in very different ways. To further explain this, if you put a front wing from a Mercedes on a Williams, the Williams wouldn't be faster but in fact, would be slower. This would happen because the rest of the car was built to suit the normal Williams wing. Over the past few years, Racing Point ( or at the time were called Force India) have tried to copy and follow Red Bull's design technique. However, Racing Point uses Mercedes parts and they are not designed for Red Bull's high rake philosophy. As a result past cars actually became slower because of the mixed design concepts. So switching to a more Mercedes like theme, made the car faster. Copying other teams cars is definitely a gamble, one component wrong and the whole car is flawed on pace. To properly copy the car and make it work, you have to understand the car and make it work. Most teams who try to copy other cars, just fall down the order because they don't know how to make it work. Looking at Racing Point's performance, I think they nailed it!

Tell me in the comments below what you think about Racing Point's Pink Mercedes! Is it legal, or should it be banned?