FIA New Rules
FIA New Rules
Ever since Mercedes dominated the hybrid era, it is safe to say that Christian Horner an Red Bull have made it their life’s mission to flip the situation around and be the ones laughing over Mercedes and their insufficiencies. And this season for the most part has been exactly that, with Mercedes looking like mere mortals rather than 8-time world champions.
But that delightful feeling that Red Bull have at the moment may come to an end way quicker than they wanted, as the FIA has succumbed to Toto’s pleas and accusations that Red Bull has been cheating all along. So what rule did Red Bull actually break in Toto’s eyes? And how does the FIA plan on addressing the situation? Well, you’re going to have to stick around to find out.
As we all can remember, it was after the British Grand Prix that the FIA ordered a technical directive for Ferrari and Red Bull to make sure that the flexibility of the planks in their cars’ bodyworks would not deflect past 2mm. Many of the teams were shocked when this came up as it had provided the other teams on the grid an “aha” moment if you will, as both Red Bull and Ferrari were the only 2 teams specifically mentioned by the FIA, and coincidentally the 2 are at the top of the standings as we speak.
And as for Toto, he believes that the cause of all this was a grey area in the regulations that gave Red Bull and Ferrari the idea to do what the FIA caught them doing. Toto would go on to say:
“Some teams have skids that actually disappear when the car hits the bottom [of the ground],” Wolff told reporters. The reason for skids is they are the limitation of how much [wear of the board] you can have. If the skid can disappear miraculously into the floor, that’s clearly against the regulations. Then the second thing is there is a plank that can deflect, or that basically also moves away more than the tolerance should be. The tolerance is one millimetre and if a plank moves away many more millimetres up into the car, obviously you gain some performance there too. I think the first one [flexing floor] will disappear for Spa, the second will be clarified in next year’s regulations.”
Now that we’ve heard Toto’s side, the next would be how the FIA plan on addressing this issue. Now all of these discussions started with Mercedes yet again starting the conversation on making a uniform change to the cars as many drivers started to feel that the porpoising was starting to become more of an issue of safety, rather than performance and comfort. So in turn, the FIA says that it intends to introduce several short-term measures at the Belgian Grand Prix in August that will mainly address Red Bull and Ferrari’s bending of the rules. The FIA’s official statement reads:
“For 2022, the FIA reaffirmed, starting from Spa, the following measures:
- A stiffening of the plank skids, and a clarification on how their wear will be measured
- The introduction of a metric, which will quantify the bouncing, which will have to stay below a prescribed value during the races. The F1 Teams will be able to use the metric already from the forthcoming race in France, in order to learn its full implications on their cars’ setup.”
And to fully eradicate the porpoising for the coming seasons, the FIA would detail their plans saying:
In the spirit of consultation, the FIA discussed a range of aerodynamic measures with the teams and, taking into account the views of the teams, the FIA has decided to narrow down the actions it intends to take for 2023 to these steps:
- A 25mm raising of the floor edges
- A raising of the underfloor diffuser throat
- The introduction of more stringent lateral floor deflection tests
- The introduction of a more accurate sensor to help quantify the aerodynamic oscillation.
The FIA would reassure all the teams on the grid that these regulations were not done to help out any specific team saying:
“The FIA reaffirmed its strong commitment to reduce and hopefully eliminate the issue in the near term, as it is considered to be a significant safety matter. It is the responsibility and the prerogative of the FIA to intervene for safety matters, and the reason the regulations allow such measures to be taken is precisely to allow decisions to be taken without being influenced by the competitive position each team may find themselves in.”
So what does this mean now for Christian Horner and Red Bull, well for one we can remember that Horner was the most furious team boss on the grid when the FIA had announced that they would be changing things up to address the porpoising. And his anger doubled after the accusations from the Toto and the FIA came out saying that they may have been bending the rules all along. Horner would comment on the situation the team is in saying:
“Total rubbish. “I think we’re getting issues mixed up. Maybe he’s referring to cars that are around him at the moment. I’ve no idea, but absolutely no issues or concerns on our floor.”
Red Bull driver and drivers’ standings leader Max Verstappen would also defend his team while taking a dig at Mercedes at the same time saying:
“Well, what I don’t quite understand, is that they’re complaining about the flexible floors while theirs is the most flexible.”
Only time will tell if the new regulations will expose Red Bull and their true pace without the flexible floors but it seems as though many teams on the grid believe that we are seeing the RB18’s true pace, as many teams are choosing to follow Red Bull’s development direction rather than Ferrari. Aston Martin introduced a controversial green Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix and Williams would also introduce an upgrade package to their car that followed the Red Bull path. Many experts believe that rivals cannot figure out what exactly is making Ferrari and their F1-75 a fast car. Automotosport’s Michael Schmidt would say:
“Ferrari has a very good car. What surprises me is that everyone copies the Red Bull, but no one copies the Ferrari. With the Red Bull, teams sort of think they know, but with the Ferrari, no one knows. One thing is clear, in my opinion, the great strength of the F1-75 is that it is always and everywhere fast. It’s fast in different ground clearances, they have an engine that’s incredibly elastic, that’s easy to drive. It gives the drivers confidence. And the F1-75 is good-natured. Cold or hot weather, no matter what tyre compound, Ferrari are always there somehow.”
And when asked if Red Bull’s flexible floors may have been the main driver to the RB18’s success, he would reply with:
“Mercedes suspects that, but they also suspect that Red Bull is doing something with the floor. That will be seen in Spa. In my opinion there won’t be much change in terms of performance level.”
And as if Toto hasn’t protested enough this year, the Mercedes team boss has also started a protest against sprint races saying that most sprint races are just a procession with little racing value. These comments came after the Austrian Grand Prix where the Sprint literally was a procession with the only hard racing coming from both Ferrari cars. Toto believes that this will continue to be the problem until the sport becomes more competitive with a greater number of teams having a shot of actually winning. In his words:
“I think the reason why races have less entertainment is because there’s just too much performance gap between the teams. If you have Verstappen disappearing in a distance, the two Ferraris being the only entertainment during the race and then we are in the middle of nowhere in no man’s land. Then the others are further behind, and then you have DRS trains. That never can make a good sprint race.”
Alpine’s driver Fernando Alonso would share the same sentiments saying:
The GPs have become more fun and with these cars you can fight better. Still, I think it’s too boring, but it’s also part of F1. There will always be teams that are faster than others.
But even so, Toto would say that he believes that F1 boss Stefano Domenicali will be much more diligent in choosing venues to hold sprint races saying:
“I think if I have trust in one person to choose the right sprint races, it’s Stefano. And Stefano will have seen [the Austria race] and will take it into consideration.”
And there you have it guys, so what do you think? Is Toto talking too much? Will Red Bull keep it’s from once the calendar hits the Belgian Grand Prix? And are sprint races here to stay? Let us know in the comment section below and as always don’t forget to like and subscribe to the channel if you haven’t.
