“Toto says they did it overnight,” Ferrari suspicious about Mercedes claim in directives issued


“Toto says they did it overnight,” Ferrari suspicious about Mercedes claim in directives issued

Mattia and Mercedes

Ferrari team Principal has recently come out and talked about the new FIA directives that were put in place during the Canadian weekend to tackle bouncing.

Bouncing has been a major area of concern for most teams on the grid during 2022 and after FIA’s new directive of adding a second stay to the floor, Ferrari believes it is not at all applicable as far as their F1-75 is concerned.

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Ahead of the Canadian weekend, the teams were informed by the FIA about limiting the verticle oscillations that a driver can be subjected to and any team found guilty of overdoing it would be asked to make changes to their set-ups.

FS Video

The FIA is also looking to bring in some new technical regulations to help in tackling the issue further and improve the quality of the ride for the various drivers.

Formula1 and FIA
Formula 1 and FIA

Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto has agreed with FIA’s decision to bring in new technical regulations but is not happy with the approach that the FIA is following in order to reduce the bouncing issue.

For us, that TD’s not applicable.”

And it’s something we mentioned to the FIA.

A TD is there to clarify regulations or to address policing. It is not there to change the regulations. That’s [a matter of] governance.”

Also Read:“Quite upsetting” : Mick Schumacher puts forward disappointment after early retirement in Montreal

Ferrari’s Mattia Binotto has asked FIA to follow proper procedure in developing solutions

Mattia Binotto
Mattia Binotto

Binotto has argued that FIA has to go through the whole process instead of taking shortcuts to sort the issue and feels they should have a meeting with the Technical Advisory Committee so that all the options can be put on the table.

Even though FIA started gathering data during the practice sessions of the Canadian Grand Prix, there was no concrete directive from the governing body for the race itself as they believe it was not possible for them to come up with something potent for Canada.

The upcoming British Grand Prix is believed to be the destination where the FIA is going to launch its full-fledged new directive to take on the issue of bouncing.

Mohammed Ben Sulayem
FIA President, Mohammed Ben Sulayem issued a statement on social media following previous controversy.

Binotto said, “They [the instructions in the technical directive] have been issued by mistake.”

Part of it, the metric, has not been applied. And the extra brackets have been not fitted in any car for the weekend.”

So, a big noise for nothing.”

Binotto here as given reference to another element of the new technical directive according to which teams were allowed to add a second stay to the floor to make the car stiffer and thus reduce bouncing.

Mercedes was the only team in Canada who ran a second stay on their cars to reduce the bouncing and Mattia believes given the short period between FIA’s directive and the Canadian weekend, it would not have been possible for Ferrari to come up with another part on such short notice.

While stressing about it Binotto said, “Toto says they did it overnight,”

What I can say is that Ferrari would not be capable of doing it.

No doubt I’m surprised that a team is so strong in doing that overnight.

I can maybe only trust what he’s saying.”

Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Mattia Binotto
Christian Horner, Toto Wolff and Mattia Binotto

Given that it is very likely on FIA’s part to implement a new directive for the upcoming British Grand Prix, it is going to be fascinating to see how the various teams are going to take it and whether there going to be any teams who will not be happy with what the FIA is going to throw their way during the British weekend.

Ferrari and Mercedes have been one of the worst-hit teams by bouncing and their reaction to the new directive is going to be worth noticing.

Also Read:Toto Wolff: “Mercedes will not stop working on the W13”