F1 and FIA call for help from Alonso
F1 News
- GPblog.com
The race (?) at Spa was the absolute low of the season. Another race that has to be cancelled due to heavy rainfall is an absolute nightmare for Formula 1. Therefore everything must be done to exclude this as much as possible in the future.
Alonso jumps in
The fiasco in Belgium is the main reason Formula One and the FIA have set up a project to investigate how racing in the rain can be done in the future. Motorsport reports that Pat Symonds, F1's technical man, is one of the driving forces behind the project. Symonds is co-responsible for the aerodynamic package of the new generation of F1 cars in 2022. He is currently studying the extent to which the new rules will affect the amount of spray created by the cars.
Speaking to Motorsport, F1 director Ross Brawn says that Symons and his team have now had several discussions with drivers. "Fernando [Alonso] was quite interesting because he said the ability to race in the rain is much better in a sportscar than it is in an F1 car. And in some aspects, you'd think it might be quite challenging, with a windscreen and the wipers and all the rest of it, but he said the way the spray comes off the car is different."
The results of the study should lead to racing in the rain becoming easier for Formula One. However, it remains to be seen whether any adjustments can still be made before the new regulations take effect in 2022. After all, the teams are already well into the development of the next generation of cars.