“It was more of a shocker,” Toto Wolff taken aback with FIA’s updated technical directive on porpoising
Toto Wolff
Toto Wolff and Mercedes have had a lot of problems to deal with the porpoising throughout the course of this season and that has left them way behind in both the championships. But this technical problem seemed to become a safety hazard for both the drivers after Lewis Hamilton picked up a back injury on the street circuit of Baku. It was pretty evident that the W-13 was bouncing like crazy and causing a lot of inconvenience to Lewis Hamilton.
This forced Toto Wolff to go to the FIA and ask for some help ahead of the Canadian GP. After looking into the matter, the FIA came to Mercedes’ rescue, issuing a technical directive allowing teams to use a permanent secondary floor to limit the bouncing. This worked pretty well for Mercedes at the Canadian GP as both drivers looked more at ease.
But, FIA has decided to get rid of that short term measure and decide to update the measures to limit the vertical oscillations. The governing body will take two races to analyze issues relating to plank wear and skid stiffness before taking a call on which teams need to change the car set up to make it safe and a level playing field.
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Toto Wolff shocked as FIA decides to monitor the rules regarding flexing of the floor by some teams
There has been a suspicion that some teams might have found a grey area and might be exploiting. Toto Wolff responding to the issue said, “Nobody had an idea until the FIA brought it up in the last Technical Advisory Committee. Which was to a great surprise of all the teams because what’s in the regulations, and what was the intent of the regulations, is pretty clear.”
“There is no argument why that could deflect more than what’s in the regs. A bit of a surprise to say the least – more of a shocker.”
“So it won’t affect us in how we run our car. It may well be it affects our competitors and by virtue of that we move a bit closer.”
This could be a turning point in the season if teams like Ferrari and Red Bull are asked to change the set up of the car after careful monitoring by the FIA. Mercedes seem confident and this might be the way they come back in the mix.
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Shubham Bajpai
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