The FIA recent technical directive which was issued just a few days ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix with the goal of limiting the Formula 1 porpoising issue was not enforceable, Ferrari point out.
The sport’s governing body confirmed last Thursday that it had issued the directive due to safety concerns. A few drivers wanted to draw attention on this matter as they raised concerns regarding the intense bouncing suffered by their cars in this first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season. Yet Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto explained the technical directive issued by the FIA went beyond just providing a clarification for the rules and regulations. Instead it took actions to make changes, which is not allowed.
“For us that TD is not applicable,” – Mattia Binotto explained at the end of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal – “It is something we mentioned to the FIA. The reason they are not applicable is a TD is there to clarify regulations or TDs are to address policy. But a TD is not there to change the regulations. You cannot change the regulations through a TD, that’s a guidance.” – he added.
The sport’s governing body has the possibility of changing the regulation based on safety reasons only via the Technical Advisory Committee, Mattia Binotto pointed out in Canada:
“On the safety grounds, what can FIA do is to first have consultations with the TAC, change the regulations and go straight to the World Council for formal approval of the change of the regulations, without having the approval of the teams on the safety grounds. But you do not change regulations with a technical directive. So that’s why we said that to FIA, for us those technical directives were not applicable. As a matter of fact, they seem to have been issued by mistake.” – he said.
The technical directive informs that Formula 1 teams would be allowed to introduce a second stay to their floors in order to limit the bouncing effect which has become an issue as a result of the design and concepts of the new generation of challengers. At the same time Alpine boss principal Otmar Szafnauer admitted in Montreal that any team which would have used those parts could be subject to protests because technical directives do not have the possibility of changing the rules.
Mattia Binotto confirmed hat no team used this second stays on Sunday in the Canadian Grand Prix: “I think that the part of the metric has not been applied, the extra brackets have been not fitted in any car for the weekend, so [it was] a big noise for nothing.”
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The porpoising issue was especially more difficult to manage for some teams two weeks ago on the long, bumpy straights of the Baku City Circuit. Despite the fact that it was less severe Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, the Ferrari team principal admits discussions should continue about how this matter can be addressed.
“Porpoising is something that we need to tackle for the future and try to reduce it. We need to do that through maybe technical changes. I think that [in the race] it has not been such an issue. It’s track-related, I think the cars have developed, they will be developed as well. So it’s a technical issue that needs to be discussed and improved. How we do that I think for me it’s an open question.” – Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto concluded.
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