“She’s a lawyer, she takes an oath,” Otmar Szafnauer “not worried” after appointment of former Toto Wolff’s advisor at FIA
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Otmar and Toto
Otmar Szafnauer the Alpine team boss has recently given his views on the appointment of Shaila-Ann Rao by the FIA and has suggested that she can be fully trusted despite her past links with Mercedes and Toto Wolff.
Shaila-Ann Rao’s appointment as interim secretary-general and F1 executive director has come in the wake of FIA’s technical directive that was communicated to the teams just one day before Friday practice for the Canadian Grand Prix.
The FIA issued the TD as a first step at curing the porpoising issue that has got many teams on the grid scratching their heads and the only goal of the directive is to protect the drivers from the incessant porpoising that was witnessed during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
After the new TD was communicated none of the teams were able to come up with a second stay for their cars in a 24-hour window but to everyone’s surprise Mercedes had somehow managed to build up a second stay for their cars and this led to a lot of suspicion in the paddock by the other team principals.
Otmar was recently asked whether he thinks Shaila can be trusted and the Alpine Boss said, “She came from the FIA.“
“The nice thing is she has team experience now as well as FIA experience and that’s always good to have.”
“I’m not concerned. She’s a lawyer and she takes an oath, to be honest, and trustworthy, so there are no issues.”
Otmar Szafnauer: it is a safety issue then it goes on the TAC
Otmar is very much aware of the severity of the porpoising issue this season and wants some clarity from the FIA as his team’s driver Esteban Ocon has also previously complained about the ill effects of porpoising.
The FIA is soon going to have a meeting with the Technical Advisory Committee regarding the matter and it is expected that there could be a future regulation change coming the way of the 10 teams in Formula One.
While stressing on FIA making strides in order to look after Driver safety Szafnauer added, “If it is a safety issue then it goes to the TAC.”
“Then it gets proposed to the World Motor Sport Council and it gets voted in. I don’t know what’s going to happen with the porpoising.”
“Hopefully, it will be discussed at the TAC.”
Otmar like most of the other enthusiasts of F1 is also not certain about what the future holds for the teams and just wishes that FIA comes up with something solid so that the teams can put the porpoising issue behind them for good.
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)