Mercedes may have to remove 'aerodynamic mirrors'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Ferrari is looking at a possibility to protest against Mercedes' mirrors. The German team surprised the competition with mirrors mounted on aerodynamic parts, but Mattia Binotto believes this is not in the spirit of the rules.
Mirrors not in the spirit of the regulations
With new regulations for 2022, all teams are looking for the limits of the regulations to achieve the fastest possible car. In doing so, teams sometimes go a bit further and mainly look at what is not in the rules. For example, Mercedes' W13 now has mirrors on an aerodynamic part.
''The FIA has said that the support of the mirror has only a structural function and only then an aerodynamic function. There is no reason to change that approach now, because in the past we also had to modify the car once for this reason,'' Binotto said according to Corriere.it.
Protest against Mercedes
Ferrari points to the 2018 season in this regard. Then the team mounted the mirror on the Halo to grab an aerodynamic advantage. This too was not described as wrong in the regulations, but it did go against the wishes of Formula 1. Ferrari had to remove the part then and assumes that Mercedes must do the same now.
At Motorsport.com however, Binotto explains that a protest is not so easily done, as ten teams, the FIA and Formula 1 have to vote on it because it is part of the regulations. According to Binotto, discussions have already started about this, but each team is trying to defend its team.