The Technical Directive 039 of Discord. After what happened in Azerbaijan, where the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell showed serious porpoising problems, the FIA moved to limit the excessive bouncing, looking for ways of intervention after consulting medical specialists who confirmed the need to do something to preserve the health of the drivers.
By using the matter of safety, the Federation can intervene on the regulation hands-free, without having to ask for the usual qualified majority (at least 7 teams) to change the rules during the current season. Hence the introduction of a vertical oscillation measurement metric, but not only, because federal technicians have discovered that some flat floors would flex more than others and this aspect would just mitigate the porpoising suffered by the teams that use them. Although these cars have passed the technical checks without problems, the Federation has decided to be more stringent on the subject, announcing solutions for stiffening the flat floor and greater attention to controlling its wear.
The technical directive was supposed to come into effect first in Canada and then in France, but its application was eventually moved to after the summer break, on the weekend of 28 August at the Belgian Grand Prix.
The two sides. Two distinct blocks seemed immediately evident, who were involved in heated discussions and debates in recent meetings. On the one hand Red Bull and Ferrari – put on the spot precisely because of the flexible flat floor matter – and on the other Mercedes, which pushed for the introduction of the TD039 as soon as possible. But the sides would have been much more nourished, with all the teams taking their own position in the meetings. One line-up saw on the barricades of the figurative resistance Ferrari, Red Bull and their respective customer teams or Haas, Alfa Romeo and Alpha Tauri, but not only, because Williams (powered by Mercedes) would also join the protest for the regulation change, leading to six teams on the ‘no’ front. As reported by Italian daily newspaper Corriere dello Sport, there were therefore four teams that lined up in the opposite side and in favor of the intervention of the FIA: in addition to Mercedes, also customer teams McLaren and Aston Martin, alongside Renault.
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The majority of the teams would therefore have pushed not to introduce Technical Directive 039 already this season, but 60% of the potential votes had no weight when it comes to the safety issue posed by the FIA. In fact, the FIA decided to go straight on its way, as confirmed by the recent Technical Committee which reiterated the introduction of the regulation change at the Spa-Francorchamps.
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