Arcanum wrote: ↑18 Mar 2025, 15:21
The moral outrage in this thread is strong. Anyone would think people here are new to F1.
This is no different from blown diffusers, Red Bull flexwings circa 2012, clever adaptations to the plank, Ferrari's creative engine fueling, Mercedes "tyre warming" steering, McLaren's F-Duct, oil burning engines, etc. etc.
None of the F1 teams will ever meet the rule of rigid immovable bodywork. Every one of them is in violation of the spirit or "intent" of those rules. And on the topic of "intent" Horner observed that there's no such thing. There is no difference here.
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/horn ... a-dispute/
If you pass the tests you're legal. If you don't, you're not. Simple as that. The FIA are tightening up the test, which is fine and in their remit. Though there's a question around how reasonable it is to implement new tests so rapidly when teams are normally given multiple races to comply. As McLaren haven't complained publicly, I doubt they are too concerned.
But the fundamental point is that all the teams design to the rules. Not the spirit. Not the intent. It's just that this wing situation is more visible, unlike the myriad of less visible parts of the car where they will all be taking a liberal interpretation of the rule book.
I have neither the time nor inclination to do so, but I'd bet if I dug back through the threads, the people who are outraged here were less vocal about the creative approaches to planks that Red Bull and Ferrari were employing back in 2022.
This is what I have been saying for a while now, including during the whole mini-DRS saga last year. Also people tend to get a little too personally involved sometimes, which is normal to be honest, it happens in every sport, however the ever-repeating ying-yang between fans of different teams/drivers gets a little unpleasant.
Long story short :
- For something to be illegal, it needs to break the rules.
- For something to be within the rules, it has to comply with the technical directives.
- For something to comply with the technical directives, it needs to past the tests.
Therefore, if something passes the tests, it cannot be considered illegal under the current modus operandi.
The thing is, the problem stands with the FIA and their means of policing their rules, which in my opinion is flawed. Carbon fiber does not exhibit purely linear elasticity. That means that just because you observe a flex of (let's say) 1mm at 750N of force, then you can't assume there will be a 10mm flex at 7500N of force. It may be more or less depending on the composite.
If they really wanted to close this completely, it's really easy to do so with all the sensors and technology we have available now. You just need to rewrite the rules so that the legality doesn't depend only on the passing of these simple and restrictive static-load tests and introduce measurements taken during on-track running too.
With the topic still popping up, it honestly feels like they're farming content for engagement ...