Mercedes ‘Spaceship’ mirrors under scrutiny in FIA meeting ahead of the 2022 Bahrain GP


Mercedes ‘Spaceship’ mirrors under scrutiny in FIA meeting ahead of the 2022 Bahrain GP

Mercedes

Mercedes are preparing for another successful year and to lay claim to their 9th Consecutive Constructors title in the 2022 Formula One championship. The Silver Arrows will be hoping to begin their campaign with a win in the Bahrain GP. The driver lineup of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell delivered consistent results in the Pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain.

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The Team bought new upgrades including a slimmed-down sidepod and futuristic-looking mirror resembling a ‘spaceship’ to the W-13 during the Pre-season Testing in Bahrain. But recent reports state the new improvements by the team could be banned after opposition teams have claimed unfair play by Mercedes.

This could be a problem for Mercedes who face stiff and revived competition ahead of the 2022 season. The new regulations have challenged the team and 7-time World Champion has recently stated Mercedes are yet to unlock the true potential of their car as of now doesn’t see them “competing for wins.”

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Mercedes mirrors cause stir in the F1 paddock

Mercedes W13

Mercedes are well known for their innovative designs, clever engineering and have been known to push their cars to the limits and test the regulations. The team unveiled a narrowed sidepod design and heavily aero profiled mirrors. Ferrari Team Principal Mattia Binotto criticised stating that “mirrors should have no aero purpose.” While Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner stated some of the designs “were against the spirit of the rules.”

The FIA’s technical advisory committee on Tuesday said it will conduct a meeting over the “discrepancies” between the rules as written and the cars the teams have designed. FIA’s Single Seater Technical Director Nikolas Tombazis said, “We’ll have another TAC meeting Tuesday to discuss these matters.”

Tombazis added, “We always assess rules for following years, and we assess whether things are clear. And when there are new rules, sometimes certain things may not have been phrased as well as we intended and so on. By and large, the level of discrepancy is quite low from what was intended. But there are a few little areas and we’ve discussed that with the teams.”

Article 3.2.2, of the Formula One Technical regulations, states “the aerodynamic influence of any component of the car not considered to be bodywork must be incidental to its main function” and that “any design which aims to maximise such an aerodynamic influence is prohibited”. According to this rule, mirrors must be used only for the function of viewing cars behind and not be used as an Aerodynamic component.

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