The fundamental problem of mirrors is that they are there. No matter how complex or elaborate the attempts at solutions, the mirrors themselves represent a flat piece facing backward to the direction of travel. The present solution is to just add a fairing in front of these high drag flat surfaces.
This concept, which I do appreciate for it's inventiveness, adds more drag because of the thick support pillars. What is being substituted is the low drag fairing for a duct in front of the mirror. This forces the location of the inlet duct, and does not allow for much flexibility in location. I also have to ask the question whether this new concept has more or less drag than the type of scoop we see in the nose of the McLaren.
Is the area on the back of the driver's helmet homologated as well? Is it possible to have a hole there that can be covered by resting the helmet on the hole and open it by the driver leaning forward?
One factor I consider very important is that under all circumstances the driver cannot activate the system to dump drag and downforce (without a conscous and deliberate effort). It would be a disaster if, for instance at some high speed corners, the driver's head wandered, and suddenly the car had a lot less downforce than expected, and needed. For instance, at 130R the engine hiccuped for a fraction of a second. The car would suddenly decelerate for this period of time, and of course, expose the hole, dump the downforce, and the car goes off at 130R.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
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