FIA order issued at Austrian GP after and Mercedes and Ferrari row | F1 | Sport
Mercedes have been forced to make hasty changes to the rear of their car at the Austrian Grand Prix after the FIA issued a rule clarification. The Formula 1 governing body has moved to outlaw a trick that the Silver Arrows have used since the Canadian Grand Prix, where the team introduced an upgrade package.
As part of that, a new diffuser design was debuted which used serrated wedges to extend the length of the diffuser for aerodynamic gain. However, it did not go unnoticed by their rivals, especially Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton as the latter was spotted getting a good look at the back of Kimi Antonelli‘s car after the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this month.
After their driver’s mini investigation and their own analysis, Ferrari is understood to have gone to the FIA to raise concerns about the Mercedes idea. Their argument was that green-lighting the design would open the door for other radical solutions, pointing out that there could be a safety issue if such serrated parts were to come into contact with other cars while battling on track.
The risk of punctures and other damage in such cases may have played a role in the clarification which has now been issued by the FIA which has effectively outlawed the innovation. To comply, Mercedes have had to make changes wich were spotted by Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz and tech analyst Bernie Collins in the pit lane on Friday.
Collins told viewers: “You can see just at the very last element of the diffuser, there’s two little tabs on each side. Those tabs extended further, previously, and that was in order to produce more downforce off the very, very end of the diffuser. Mercedes, for this event, because they don’t have a lot of time, have just had to grind those off, which is why we can still see the little tabs.”
And Kravitz pointed out in response: “That means that they will have lost a bit of downforce, surely? Those bit wouldn’t have been on the diffuser if they didn’t create downforce.” It’s understood that the performance impact is set to be very small, though Ferrari will be pleased to have successfully argued that a marginal gain be taken away from their rivals.
Racing Bulls, who had also adopted a similar design, have also had to make tweaks to the back of their cars for this event to comply with the FIA’s clarification. Haas are also believed to have used the idea but, because their own design was not quite so radical, they have not been forced to make any modifications at short notice.
Most teams have brought upgrades to the Red Bull Ring, though, with Cadillac‘s update the largest as 10 different performance-related elements have been introduced. Red Bull are hoping that their new parts will deliver at their home track, having managed to shed more weight off their cars, while Ferrari are set to introduce their new engines when the competitive action begins on Saturday.
