Mercedes test driver 2019 knew nothing about development DAS system
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Esteban Ocon worked closely with Mercedes during the development of the Mercedes W10 in 2019. The Frenchman had no idea that in the meantime the DAS system for the W11 was being developed. Was the Dual Axis Steering System an idea that only came to mind very late in the 2019 season, or was it deliberate held as a secret?
Mercedes kept the spirits up in Barcelona during the pre-season winter tests. Lewis Hamilton pulled his steering wheel out of nowhere with some force and to everyone's surprise the toe of the wheels changed as well. The DAS system had appeared.
Esteban Ocon, the 2020 comeback kid, still has to wait until the season starts. Ocon wasn't an active part of F1 in 2019 but was allowed to take part along the sidelines with Mercedes as their test driver. But Ocon says he didn't knew anything about Mercedes' plans for the DAS-system.
They were either very smart or very fast
To Motorsport.com the brand new Renault pilot explains: "Either they were very smart and didn't show me the effect of the system, or they developed it at a later staged and designed it while I was away. Somewhere when I was between Renault and Mercedes."
Ocon continues his argument: "After the end of the season I wasn't welcome in the factory anymore and I wasn't allowed in the simulator either. They may have done it then, but it is likely that they came up with this system at the end of the year".
In the eyes of the Frenchman, it is a logical step that he was no longer allowed in the factory. Of course the team had to test the systems in the simulator. In addition, the Renault driver could of course reveal the new secret that the champions had developed during the winter break.