Mercedes F1 has chosen to remove the second stay, which could be protested by rivals at the F1 Canadian Grand Prix.
After receiving a technical directive from the FIA (International Automobile Federation) on the eve of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix weekend to reduce porpoising, the F1 team was advised to add a second stay to secure the floor.
Mercedes F1 was the only team to try a tentative solution in George Russell’s car during Friday’s free practice and choose that route.
However, the action of Mercedes F1 attracted the attention of rival teams. Rival teams questioned whether the FIA followed the proper process to enable additional stays.
The FIA has the right to unilaterally change the regulation for safety reasons, but the process was not carried out with the regulation that was actually changed over the weekend in Montreal.
In other words, theoretically, the technical directive permitting the second stay violates the technical rule limiting to one stay.
Mercedes F1 rivals believed that there was reason to protest when running stays in qualifying and racing, which was inconsistent with regulations and technical directives.
Alpine F1 Team principal Otmar Szafnauer supported that view ahead of Saturday’s track action in Montreal.
“As far as the process is concerned, this is a technical directive, and as we all know, the technical directive is not a regulation,” said Otmar Szafnauer.
“Therefore, it’s very likely that you shouldn’t run this in qualifying for the race. If the team puts in those stays, I think they could probably be protested. Therefore, the current regulation today. Violates “
“We definitely won’t throw it in, and unfortunately, with the extra stays, we can make the car run lower and stiffer, and gain some advantages.”
If the Mercedes F1 left the stay on, it could have prompted action from rivals, but the team chose not to continue it for the rest of the F1 Canadian Grand Prix weekend for performance reasons. Avoided controversy.
The Mercedes F1 version I tried didn’t perform the expected steps, so the team reverted to a single stay allowed by the rules.
The FIA may choose to formally change the regulations for the next race at Silverstone to explicitly allow a second stay. At the World Motor Sport Council meeting scheduled before the F1 British Grand Prix, the rules can be fine-tuned.
Category: Category: F1 / Mercedes / F1 Canadian Grand Prix
