Conversation between F1 teams to continue after Wolff's outburst

The Mercedes Campaign

Mercedes is running a clear campaign to change the rules. The German racing team believes that the rules cause the cars to bounce so much and that this is dangerous for the drivers. Especially in Azerbaijan, George Russell and Toto Wolff made their voices heard about this and Lewis Hamilton came out of his car visibly in pain.

Just before the Canadian Grand Prix the FIA therefore introduced new technical directives which caused irritation among the teams. First of all it was not immediately clear if these rules would apply immediately and a rule change in the middle of the season was not the intention according to many teams.

The new guidelines were mainly aimed at countering porpoising and protecting the drivers. If the car bounced too much or too hard, the car would have to be raised or a car would be disqualified. In the end, it turned out to be a test of the FIA, but the governing body wants to implement the rules towards Great Britain.

Outraged Wolff

However, this is encountering a lot of resistance from the other teams. They believe that it is a problem for Mercedes and not for the FIA or the other teams. There are also teams that have no problem with porpoising, so why should the rules be changed for one team when it can simply adjust its car higher?

This caused a lot of anger with Toto Wolff when the teams got together in Canada for a meeting. The Austrian accused the other team bosses of unsporting behavior. According to Wolff, they only think about their own performance, but the other teams think differently. They see Mercedes trying to save its own skin.

This image was reinforced when the FIA gave permission on Thursday for a new rod from the chassis to the floor. When Mercedes came up with exactly that rod on Friday, competitors reacted with surprise, "How can Mercedes have already made that rod when it was only announced on Thursday? Mercedes removed the rod from the car before qualifying, presumably apprehensive of possible protests.

Recurrence for F1 teams

The conversation between the teams will be followed up according Motorsport.com towards the British GP a sequel. Then also technical director of the FIA Nikolas Tombazis will join them. He has to lead the conversation between the teams, which got out of hand last week, in the right direction this time.

Following Mercedes' lead, the FIA is hoping to tweak the rules slightly to ensure safety, but it seems unreal that enough teams will vote for this plan. Ferrari and Red Bull Racing have made it clear that they are against these new rules and both teams also have customers who can vote against the plan. So it will be a tough task for the FIA and Mercedes.