F1 didn't expect extreme design from Mercedes: 'Will create discussion'
F1 News
- GPblog.com
Formula 1 had not counted on the design of Mercedes. This is what Ross Brawn has revealed in conversation with Sky Sports. Whether the design is legal is not yet discussed by the technical chief.
Innovation at Mercedes
Formula 1 has a completely new set of aerodynamic regulations for the 2022 season. These regulations have been extensively tested and checked by Brawn and his team for possible loopholes, but as expected there still appear to be some possibilities for interpretation. For example, Brawn did not count on Mercedes' design without side pods.
"I think there's no doubt, the Mercedes concept we didn't anticipate. It's a very extreme interpretation of the regulation. Inevitably there is going to be a lot of debate about their interpretation and that's what happens with new regss," said the former Ferrari and Benetton technical chief.
"How ever hard you try to close off all options, and believe me we closed off 100s of them, the innovation in F1 is always extreme. From our perspective, it's largely about does it affect the objective of the regulations. From a teams perspective, they want to make sure that no one has taken an interpretation they don't think is correct," Brawn concluded.
Protest from Red Bull
Christian Horner has already let it be known that at Red Bull they consider Mercedes' W13 to be in breach of the regulations and also consider various parts on the car to be illegal. Red Bull denies that Horner made those statements, but Auto, Motor und Sport reports that Horner did make those statements. Brawn does not want to speak directly about a protest, but instead compliments Mercedes.
"It's impressive [Mercedes side pods]. I think this is the great thing about the innovation of F1 and keeping it in the boundaries that are sensible and no compromises to the objectives we wanted to achieve. You have to be fair, when a team comes up with an idea, an innovation, you shouldn't penalise it straight away. The FIA, as a regulator, know everything going on there. We don't. The regulator know what's going on and I think they are okay with it so far. A team may come in and raise an objection that the FIA haven't considered, and then you have a problem. I have been though it many times when you're idea is okay, the FIA believe it's okay and another team come in with a perspective that's never been considered and have an argument that's valid," concluded Brawn.