FIA abandons idea of fitting rain wheel covers to F1 cars after Ferrari test. The FIA has abandoned the idea of fitting wheel covers to F1 cars in extreme wet conditions.

Scuderia Ferrari has recently assisted the motor racing governing body by testing a more comprehensive wheel guard design at the Fiorano circuit. The goal was to determine if this new concept could help reduce spray.

This latest design was significantly more elaborate than the original version tested at Silverstone last year. With Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman on track, the Italian side ran two cars in close proximity to assess whether the new design offered any improvement. The exaggerated design of the covers was intentional, as the FIA aimed to fully understand the potential improvement in visibility if wheel spray was eliminated.

However, video analysis from the test showed that the benefit was minimal because a substantial amount of water continued to be dispersed by the diffuser.

Consequently, the FIA quickly concluded that the wheel cover idea was not worth further pursuit. They are now considering other solutions to address challenging wet conditions.

In an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com, Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s head of single-seater matters, confirmed that the wheel cover project had been halted as it failed to deliver the significant improvement they were hoping for.

“We always knew that there were two main contributing factors to the cloud of spray,” he said. “One was how much water is picked up from the ground from the diffuser, and the other one is from the wheels. What we thought we’d do is try to do a total wheel cover, even beyond what would be practical, to see what is the maximum we can possibly achieve with that – in order to see whether that is the solution or not.” – Nikolas Tombazis explained.

“The previous wheel cover test [at Silverstone last year] was way, way too flimsy and too small. And therefore I don’t think it was ever going to work. So we went to the maximum just to see what was the best we could achieve from the wheel covers. And while they do have a bit of an effect, they don’t have a significant enough effect to say that that’s the solution. Therefore we are back to square one. Let’s say that I think we’ve answered a few questions. We know where we are, but I don’t think that’s continuing as a project at the moment, as such. Now we know we need to find other ways to protect races from being cancelled.” – added the racing car designer who has worked in Formula One since 1992 for the Benetton, McLaren, and Ferrari teams.

The impact of the venturi floor in displacing a considerable amount of water has led to earlier proposals of adding components to the diffuser to help minimize water spray in this area.

Yet Nikolas Tombazis remains skeptical about this approach, believing that any modifications in this area would significantly hinder downforce generation.

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“Theoretically you could do something there, but that would be like removing all the downforce and so on. So it would be quite an issue. It’s not an easy next step, to be honest. We have to discuss it.” – he pointed out – But fundamentally, as a test, it [the Ferrari design] worked because it showed us what we were looking for. Sometimes tests go well and you say ‘fantastic’, and sometimes they go the other way and tell you the direction you are following is not good and you need to follow something else. That something else needs to be established now.”

Nikolas Tombazis mentioned that he had some ideas on potential solutions but preferred not to disclose them publicly at this time. The former Ferrari man hope that, whatever the solution might be, it could prove beneficial during those rare instances when conditions become very difficult for drivers.

“We need to think of different solutions. I mean, ultimately, what we want to avoid is a Spa 2021 situation where a race gets cancelled, or severely shortened, or severely delayed. Clearly, it’s always going to be a compromise. The wheel covers themselves were quite ugly, but if they had done a significant contribution, then we would have been perfectly happy to install them once a year if that makes a difference between cancelling a race or not. It was never intended to be ‘every time it’s wet we put them on’. But unfortunately, we do need to try to think of other solutions.” – Nikolas Tombazis concluded.