Formula 1 teams welcomed the FIA’s decision to delay introducing a clarification which could force some to change the design of their cars’ floors.
The behaviour of teams’ plank and skid assemblies has become a focus of attention as some teams suspect their rivals of using parts which flex excessively to improve their cars’ performance.
The FIA originally announced that a new technical directive clarifying this area of the regulations would come into force in time for the French Grand Prix. But at yesterday’s meeting of the F1 Commission the decision was taken to postpone it to the Belgian Grand Prix, over a month later, to allow teams more time to make any necessary changes to their cars.
“Following feedback and consultation with the teams and in order to allow the teams to make necessary updates to the plank and skid assemblies, which will ensure a fair application of the metric used to measure this oscillation across all cars, the implementation of the draft technical directive issued to the teams prior to the British Grand Prix will come into effect from the Belgian Grand Prix,” said the FIA and Formula 1 in a joint statement.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff drew attention to the behaviour of other teams’ floors following the Canadian Grand Prix three weeks ago. His driver George Russell said yesterday “Ferrari and Red Bull were probably pushing the boundaries with the planks a bit more than the interpretation of the regulation.”
Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto claimed the technical directive was aimed at addressing the ‘porpoising’ some teams have experienced this year. He said that as this problem has lessened in recent events – which have taken place on smoother circuits – the clarification can be delayed.
“We are still discussing much the TD and the porpoising,” he said in today’s FIA press conference. “But as a matter of fact it doesn’t seem to be an issue or a subject anymore.
“It was not a subject in Silverstone, it has not been here a subject, in Austria, for [any] of us. I’m pretty sure it will not be in the next two races.
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“So again, are we overshoot[ing] with the FIA, the subject? Was there really a true need to act and to release TDs? At first they did it in Canada not following the right process. It’s good that after that they reviewed it, they started a discussion at the [Technical Advisory Committee], there will be a new discussion next…
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