News: http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/080214151223.shtml Photo: http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/photolarge.php?photoID=92121&catID=3105
As covered wheels are forbidden, the cover is surely part of the wheel nut, like the cover Ferrari uses.
Keep in mind that one of the major advantages Ferrari enjoys over the others is the braking system, this is also very evident during the whole Stepney-Gate. McLaren even acknowledged it with their recent "admission" and had vowed to "not develop" their braking systems any further. IMO, the transfer of technology has already been completed, down to the levels of actual skematics of the system, and all the development work has already been done for McLaren by Ferrari, there isn't too much to develop other than fine tuning the system to suit their cars. Also, if the system is not ready for McLaren, they would not have put them on the car in the first place. The self-imposed ban on development by McLaren is, IMO, was made to satisfied Mosely/FIA and more importantly, the general public & the media. A team like McLaren can easily take an existing concept and advance it to surpass the original concept. This modificiation is a perfect example of their attemp in making the system better. This is why Stepney-gate IS a big deal and not a run of the mill copying of technology that all teams does with photographies.
Absolutely agree...but werent they banned from making new and improved parts for 3 or 4 different areas?
I am sure that McLaren knows how to get around the self-imposed ban based on some kind of technicalities. Again, this is already a perfect example of that, McLaren will probably argue that the wheel covers are a part of the wheels and not part of the braking system.
Don't you think the FIA will just ban them...the X-wings, the brake steer system, etc, weren't technically illegal, but...
...that will affect development too much, cars are designed a long time ago...I dont think they´ll ban that but McLaren should be under the light in this.VERY.
I imagined the wheel covers were an aerodynamic thing rather than anything to do with the braking system.
I am sure that's what McLaren will say too, but IIRC, the wheel covers aid in brake cooling, at least according to Ferrari. However, if it is indeed an aero piece, it is against FIA regulation to have an active/moving aero component on the car, such as flexible wings or the mass damper system that was used by Renault in 2006.
F1 is an open-wheel formula. Regardless of the exact wording of the rule, that violates the concept of "open-wheel." If banning these means banning Ferrari's wheel covers, so be it. That may be McLaren's whole intention....
In 2004 (?) the brake ducts behind the wheels assumed aerodynamic profiles that went beyond their cooling function. In that they were allowed it may be difficult to ban these.
I think that rule probably relates to aero items that change while the car is moving, I'm pretty sure that isn't the case with these.
A Moveable aerodynamic devise is whatever Charley Whiting and the Working Technical Group say it is. Everything on a car moves.
IIRC, there was some debate over the Ferrari wheel covers when they were first introduced in 2006. The protest was based on the exact same things we are talking about here, are they part of the brake system or part of the aerodynamic system ? If it is aero, which is what the other teams argued, then they are against FIA regulation. Which was why Ferrari was only using them in the rear wheels and not the front (Because the front wheels turns for directional control, thus counts as "moving" aero aid) , until FIA cleared them. It was at that time that FIA determined that they are part of the brake system and not part of the aerodynamic system. I did't make the rule, I am just stating what I remember happened in 2006.
