Formula 1 teams welcome the decision of the FIA to postpone until the Belgian round the introduction of a technical directive aimed at combating the problem of car sway and its consequences.
The fact is that in the second edition of this document, which appeared during the days of the race weekend at Silverstone, additional points appeared regarding the intentions of the federation to check the bottoms of the cars and the control bars attached to them for wear and flexibility in a new way. It is possible that some teams will have to make some changes to the design so that their cars can withstand such tests.
Recently, these areas of cars have attracted special attention, as the teams have mutual suspicions that rivals may use tricky engineering solutions, due to which the bottom and its elements have increased flexibility.
First of all, they talked regarding this at Mercedes, including yesterday George Russell said literally the following: “Probably, such bars as those of Ferrari and Red Bull are no longer just an interpretation of the regulations, they are crossing certain boundaries.”
The FIA directive was supposed to come into force at the French stage of the championship, but at yesterday’s meeting of the F1 Commission, it was decided to postpone its introduction for another couple of races.
“We are still continuing to discuss the FIA technical directive and the buildup of the cars,” commented Mattia Binotto, Team Principal of Ferrari, at today’s FIA press conference. – Although in fact, it seems that this is no longer a problem and not a subject for conversation.
There was no need to talk regarding it at Silverstone, and there is no such need here in Austria. I’m sure the next two races won’t have this problem either. In this case, is it not exaggerated in the federation?
The actions they took in Canada were wrong. It is good that then they changed their position, brought this topic up for discussion by the FIA Technical Committee. Its meeting will take place next week, and there the debate will continue – an attempt is made to introduce additional clarifications into the directive.
Speaking of the bottom, some changes will need to be made, since following the clarification published by the FIA, new test parameters will be introduced. It takes time to make these changes, and I think it’s good that you can get everything ready for Belgium without haste. Since there is no buildup problem, there is no need to rush.”
According to Toto Wolff, head of the Mercedes team, this is not the point, but the different interpretation of the provisions of the regulations regarding the bottom of the car. From his point of view, the decisions implemented by a number of teams affect the effectiveness of the chassis: “The amount of ground clearance in the front of the car and the rigidity of the control bar will be discussed when adjusting the technical regulations in 2023.
It is clear to us that we will not have to change anything, so we would like the technical directive to come into force as soon as possible. It will help solve the buildup problem, regarding which Mattia said that this is not such a big problem anymore. This is true, but there are also efficiency issues.
A compromise has been reached, and the teams that will have to make some changes will have enough time for this. We will see the results at the Spa stage, and we are ready to put up with it.”
Mike Krak, Aston Martin F1 Principal, added: “I’m not surprised by the response to the technical directive, as not all top teams seem to have taken the approach it is regarding. But I don’t think we have to change anything.”
Alfa Romeo boss Frédéric Vasseur, on the contrary, stressed that he would be happy if the teams were given even more time: “I think we might postpone the introduction of this directive to the 14th stage of the season, or even to the 16th or 18th. I’m not convinced at all that the FIA should interfere in how we set up cars. We don’t have to make big changes to the design, but I’m surprised by the response to this directive, as the control bar is supposed to be tight according to the regulations.”