The news was in the area, but yesterday it was officially confirmed: the FIA approved several important changes to next championship’s technical rules regulations despite the opposition from Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull, who believe these changes will in fact allow Mercedes to reduce the performance deficit between the W13 and the F1-75 / RB18 in the first part of the 2022 Formula 1 season.
With the introduction of the new F1 cars based on the ground effect concept this season, teams suffered from the effects of porpoising and bouncing, but most teams were able to fix this issue by themselves. Mercedes remained the most vocal on this topic, aware that the situation was costing them performance on the straights.
While Mercedes could fix the problem by raising the height of the car, this option would lead to a loss in terms of performance in the corners, which of course made George Russell, Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff insist on the matter, asking the FIA to intervene based on alleged safety reasons. To make a point regarding the need for actions, Mercedes referred to the Baku City Circuit, where Lewis Hamilton seemed to struggle to get out of his W13 car after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix due to back pain. The FIA immediately responded to Mercedes’ request by introducing a new technical directive ahead of the Montreal F1 Grand Prix.
The technical directive was then postponed until the Belgian Grand Prix, as many teams expressed their disapproval and pointed out that there was no time to understand and implement the chance on such short notice. The final decision was that teams should raise the ride height of the car by a minimum of 10mm as of the Belgian Grand Prix if the FIA believes there was too much oscillating movement. This accepted level of movement was determined by measurements taken at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Canada and at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.
During the evaluation of the required changes, Mercedes felt that there were parts of the floor on the Ferrari and Red Bull cars which were flexing more than 2mm, while there was also a unique use of skid blocks, that disappeared into the plank with the goal of limiting tyre degradation. While this is in no way related to safety reasons and most importantly it absolutely not technically illegal, it will be as of the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Formula 1 event when the season resumes later this month. The general impression of Scuderia Ferrari and Red Bull is that Mercedes are just invoking the argument of safety in order to gain in terms of performance.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner even hinted that Mercedes may be asking Russell and Hamilton to “b****” about the matter as much as possible in order to influence FIA’s actions. Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto shared the views of his Red Bull counterpart, while at the same time pointing out that regardless of who may benefit from the changes, it is already far too late to introduce them for the 2023 Formula 1 championship, because the teams have already started to work on the final versions of next year’s cars.
Mattia Binotto also explained that safety is not a good enough reason to bring changes after multiple suggestions that Mercedes could just raise the ride height of their car to reduce the aero bouncing.
“I hope there won’t be any changes, I don’t see any real reasons to make changes to the technical regulations for safety reasons, especially if we look at the latest races. In addition, if the aerodynamic regulations were to change for 2023 it would be a considerable problem considering the time of year we are in, there would be very little time to change the concept of the new car. And, I repeat, there are no reasons to introduce changes to the technical regulation by citing safety reasons so, I think it can’t happen, and if it does, we’ll try to figure out how to stop them.” – the Ferrari boss said.
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Despite Ferrari and Red Bull’s opposition and warnings that there might be protest, FIA president Mohammed ben Sulayem felt that safety was indeed a factor so the plan was confirmed and the changes will be introduced for the second part of 2022 and 2023:
“Safety is absolutely the highest priority for the FIA, and we have devoted significant time and resources to the analysis and resolution of the issue of porpoising. I have personally discussed this matter with all of the teams and drivers, and while of course there are some differences in opinion owing to varying competitive positions, it is very clear that the FIA has a duty to act and ensure that the drivers are not put at undue risk of injury as a result of this phenomenon.” – he concluded.
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