“The technical directive was just a hope”: Sky F1 pundits reflect on Spanish GP. Sky Sport F1 pundits reflect on the impact of TD18 after the Spanish GP.

Sky Sport F1 pundits, guests on the Race Anatomy show, shared their thoughts on the Spanish Grand Prix, the race in which technical directive TD18 came into effect, reducing the flexibility of front wings.

Opinions from the Race Anatomy guests
Journalist Leo Turrini introduced the topic, stating: “But this famous technical directive that was supposed to change everything, that was supposed to reopen the World Championship? Then we get [to Barcelona, editor’s note] and find out that all that talk was fake news. How is that possible?”

Francesco Cigarini, former Ferrari mechatronic engineer, promptly replied: “The project [of flexible front wings, editor’s note] has been ongoing for years.

“If [the front wings of, editor’s note] everyone flex, if everyone finds a workaround for this directive, the same gap remains. In my opinion, it was more a hope than a real forecast of what could happen, also because I’ve always seen McLaren very calm about it,” he concluded.

Matteo Bobbi, two-time GT world champion, then weighed in: “Going back to previous weeks, both Mercedes and Red Bull were quite convinced they would close the gap to McLaren with the new TD18—until they saw McLaren testing the revised wing at Imola. From that point on, they realized the competitive picture wouldn’t change that much [editor’s note].”

Ivan Capelli, former Formula 1 driver, added: “The FIA introduced this directive to stop the escalation of flexible wings, to try and bring everyone back in line.

“Maybe there was hope, even from the FIA’s side, to bring some renewed interest to the championship. But it’s clear that McLaren’s advantage doesn’t come only from the wings, but from the entire car project,” he specified.

And you, what do you think? Were you expecting a greater impact on the pecking order with the introduction of the new technical directive? Let us know with a comment.