Placing an adjustment device around pedal box is also a lot handier for setup during FPs than having to get the car up on jacks every time. It's put there for a reason, if it really is there, which does not make it illegal. If they indeed used it, there'd a lot - and I mean A LOT - less trouble with balance and lack of downforce in race trim on their end.scuderiabrandon wrote: ↑18 Oct 2024, 14:37One of the allowed changes under parc fermé is pedal position (article 40 sporting regulations), albeit with permission from a technical delegate. Placing an access point where adjustments can be made in the pedal box would not draw any attention whatsoever.
Removal of panels could point toward the removal of the panel on top of the cockpit nose, which is typically the access panel for the pedal box. Therefore, I believe it is strategically placed and not a coincidence.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of it is beside the point when you are breaking the law to make changes. Obviously absolutely no evidence of that whatsoever, but if it were to have a noticeable effect I think that would show with a bigger discrepancy between their qualifying and race pace.
This setup change between Q and R would allow the car to be setup and run lower than others at all times during Q and R. As the race goes on, cars go faster and faster, getting closer to the ground. Floor downforce coefficient increment gets bigger as the car gets closer to the ground. This would mean the lowest car would have a noticeable step in the final stint vs other cars and this is not a feature of RB20 and it never was. There is a car that often finds something extra in the final 3rd of the race though and that car comes from Woking.