According to the Italian press (Warnings!...) the FIA wiil accept Ferrari's argumentation and declare the Mercedes (and Red Bull) concept illegal. But for the time being, nothing official on the usual sites of serious/confirmed information. Se la Ferrari vince. A tavolino | Profondo Rosso Rgds
This is not wishful thinking. Everybody (emmm, except Honda) was close to the 1000 hp barrier (peak power) in 2016 so it´s quite probable that with the new regulations they all will get there. About the suspension, if they banned FRIC I can´t see why this should be allowed. Well, yes, I can see why: because Charlie Whiting quite often does bizarre things.
It's worth noting that when the FRIC suspension concept (front-rear-inter-connected) was banned mid-season (2014?), Mercedes was thought to be the team that made the most use of it, or depended on it the most as their car was designed around it. Yet, when it was banned, perhaps the gap to the other teams closed a bit, but Mercedes remained out front, and in 2015/16 increased the gap again. The point is that Mercedes has strong technical depth in their engineering department, so they can respond to any technical rule changes quickly and fully, as much as Ferrari, RB, McLaren. I wouldn't count on a Charlie vague interpretation throwing Mercedes off their game too much, unfortunately.
It would be outstanding to see Ferrari get their act together, but them crying foul play at other teams who have hired people they fired seems hilarious doesn't it.
Ross makes valid points. F1's problem is Formula E already does the silent electric format. If F1 wants to differentiate itself it needs noisy and exciting cars.
JANUARY 4, 2017 FIA bans Mercedes concept after Ferrari letter - report Ferrari has reportedly made a bold bid to catch up in 2017 by designing a new suspension system, or have the Mercedes-pioneered concept banned by the FIA. Germany's Auto Bild claims that for its 2017 car codenamed 668, Ferrari has come up with a Mercedes-like, hydraulically-networked chassis. But before debuting it in late February, Ferrari "asked the FIA for clarification as to whether the (suspension) system is really legal". "If not, Mercedes would have to remove it," said correspondent Bianca Garloff. Ferrari is not commenting. But the same news is being reported by Italy's authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport, adding that Red Bull also ran the Mercedes-like layout last year. And the newspaper said the FIA has responded to Ferrari's clarification request by telling the teams the Mercedes-like system is not allowed. Correspondent Paolo Filisetti wrote: "The world championship will not begin for three months, but the technical skirmish between the top teams has already reached a high level." The FIA's decision to ban the concept is reportedly because it varies the right-height of the car, not simply to act as traditional suspension but for aerodynamic effect.
More data here on the suspension situation that has come up this week - Formula 1's latest suspension row explained - F1 - Autosport
Exactly. This changes nothing for Ferrari other than shows their hand very clearly that they could not get their system working correctly minus quite a bit more testing. Mercedes and Red Bull will remain in front of Ferrari.
Thanks for posting that. I was literally about to ask someone to explain it to me. I sort of get it now. Interesting what Ferrari is actually doing. Are they really seeking clarification prior to investing in the tech or are they just trying to put the bolts to Merc and RB? It's F1, so it's probably a lot of both and few other things.
F1 teams at that level normally would move with multiple angles in mind. Hard to say what will be or when that will be apparent in terms of Ferrari and its intentions.
Agreed, it truly seems that Merc and RB are innovating at a whole different level. Ferrari always seems to have too great a percentage of focus on themselves and their internal workings and what "should be" instead of putting all energies into the car's development. You just don't hear that much about strife and veiled threats coming from Merc and RB.
Ehh. Doesn't seem that clear cut to me. More importantly, there is no reason it should not be clear cut. Seems like F1/Charlie make things more ambiguous and difficult than they need to be, but what do I know.
Honda goes all Merc-ky! Engineers throwing in the towel it seems... https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127679/honda-to-follow-mercedes-engine-philosophy
New Formula 1 tyres for 2017 have 'very low degradation' - F1 - Autosport I do hope we have less tire 'management' !!
Great news if true! ...but how will the fuel load and flow play into it I wonder? Will we eliminate one limiting factor in keeping the cars on the limit and just smack into another one?
An increase of 5kilograms should not present a large mass to deal with. The width issue might come into play on narrow circuits.
