Mercedes scored a peremptory one-two finish in the San Paolo GP at the Interlagos circuit last weekend with George Russell ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The Brackley team was able to benefit from two aspects: the Technical Directive 39 with which the FIA wanted to address a safety issue, imposing an algorithm from the Belgian Grand Prix at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps to control straight line porpoising which forced Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull to raise the minimum ground clearance losing that load that the W13 was unable to produce because it was forced to stay higher off the ground due to bouncing.
The second factor for the Mercedes strong comeback was the package of updates introduced ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin and then corrected in Mexico: the Silver Arrow cars were brought closer to minimum weight, thus taking advantage of an important benefit that went beyond the aerodynamic improvements.
Ferrari froze the development of its F1-75 challenger after the Singapore Grand Prix as it no longer had the economic resources to invest in the project. Motorsport Italy asked team principal Mattia Binotto how it is possible that a car which was a second per lap slower at the beginning of the season was able to reduce the gap, bringing technical innovations onto the track right up to the very end of the campaign:
“I don’t know how much I can help you understand.” – Mattia Binotto replied – “I remember we were at Imola when I said we were worried about the budget cap and how it would be controlled, because the financial regulation is a completely new one that still needs some adjustments. Then it is clear that I too am surprised to see teams that manage to develop throughout the season up until the end.”
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Therefore?
“One can only rely on the FIA and their staff inspectors to seriously check the accounts of each team. Having said that, we will have the results for 2022 next year. We can’t wait for October 2023: it was like this this year, but I hope that the FIA increases the number of people working on this matter, because we can’t wait for October to get some answers. And I say this for the good of the sport: it would be a shame if some teams had exceeded the budget limit. And seeing that other teams are developing so much in the season, some doubts can arise”.
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