merc cheating already, pehaps we will have to wait to have a worthy world champion once again!
It's somewhere in the rules that if the steering is in a neutral position the suspension geometry can not change...surely this does it as they pull a lever (of sorts) and it changes it...I can't see this being legal.
Very innovative by MB and no doubt legal as the FIA has MB’s back. Goes to show that F1 is an engineering championship first and foremost and that the driver is secondary in nature.
The FIA have deemed it legal. https://www.gptoday.net/en/news/f1/254247/mercedes-steering-movements-cause-interest-in-barcelona
Das Foul ? I have to believe Mercedes got some initial read on the FIA stance before bringing it to the track. Innovation is good. Precedent also matters. I do wonder if similar concepts were ever considered by other teams and shelved due to initial FIA response and ruled interpretation.
No point in watching this year ....errrr again! At least I wont have to endure the hope and pain of the first few races
I will believe it when i see an official statement from the FIA..not just from some expert talking to GP today
Is this Dastardly contraption only adjustable to either a push to get a pre set toe or pull for nil toe? or totally adjustable between extremes? Guess it will be circuit dependent
the driver was an integral part of the car development back then, providing feedback to the engineers through relentless testing. Now the engineers tell the driver what to do.
It would be so funny, if Ferrari tested something similar tomorrow or next week, to read all the back-pedaling that would be going on here.
Still the teams with the best engineering won more, therefore F1 was and still is a engineering championship. Having said that, the driver still is best "sensor" in the car.
It wasn't the drivers coming up with advanced aero concepts, active suspension, traction control, monocoque design... It's an engineering sport and the engineers can finally rely on something other than the driver to get the data they need.
Sorry to be pedantic but let's put ourselves in the shoes of the Merc engineers. The rules say about "suspension" and the suspension geometry is not altered in any way. The wishbones' ends remain fixed in their places as well as the shocks'. The whole kinematics of the suspension (ie, travel and angle ranges, etc.) remain the same. What this new trick is doing is altering the steering alignment (ie toe in/ toe out) and that is not the suspension . So if the rules are not specific about steering system and components, then it's open for interpretation. I'm a mechnical engineer and I quite liked it.
I cannot see anything in the regulations that implies this. The closest imo you are going to getting it outlawed is:- 10.4.2 Power assisted steering systems may not be electronically controlled or electrically powered. No such system may carry out any function other than reduce the physical effort required to steer the car. The steering wheel, column and rack is part of a power steering system and must only be used to reduce the physical effort to steer the car. Does changing toe in reduce the physical effort? It was pretty obvious mercedes run it past the FIA beforehand. Quite what an advantage it will give will be interesting but if it irons out its handling and tyre wear deficiencies from last year then other teams will be looking for 2nd place again.
I'd be more interested in the potential safety ramifications if anything. What if they get hit, they move the steering wheel on accident due to the impact forces and it causes a loss of control or impact with another car? I also wonder if this is a distraction to take attention away from something else about the car.