F1 News
No more 'Mini DRS' allowed: Does this have an effect on the results?
Alpine remained honest, as the French team explained they are one of the teams that had to change their rear wing after the new technical directive was announced after the Australian Grand Prix by the FIA. Coincidentally or not, Jack Doohan and Pierre Gasly are struggling this weekend in China. Would that be because of the aforementioned change?
Jack Doohan qualified in P18 in China, and also spun in exiting Turn 9 on his first flying lap in Q1. That is not where the ambitious Alpine team would like to be, but according to the driver, nothing wrong stood out. "Off the top of my head, no," he began in China about did this result happen because the circumstances changed.
Therefore, he is also yet to find out why this was the result he could achieve on Saturday. "Think that's the magic question at the moment. We really have to look into it, analyse. For sure there's going to be a combination of things that is why our package isn't coming together. But yes, we're just going to keep working at it. We're still very early on and try to maximise it where we can."
Alpine admitted adjustment to wing
The clear assumption can be that the team have been affected by the latest technical directive, after they admitted they had to make adjustments in order to comply with the new rules introduced by the FIA. From 2 milimetres, now the 'slot gap' must not bend by more than 0.5 instead (with an extra 0.25 millimetres tolerated in China because of the short notice period).
Asked about whether that makes the diffence, Doohan first said: "What about our rear wing?" The Australian then added, "I haven't been told anything on that to be honest. Luckily I'm the racing driver then, not the engineer."
His teammate, Pierre Gasly was also asked the same question. The French driver qualified in P16, after going wide on his final lap in Q1. He also does not believe his result was down to the change to their rear wing. "I can't really [answer that] at the moment, it's only the first weekend. It's obviously stuff we're going to analyse, but at the moment I don't see the evidence."
This article was written in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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