Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and Co fired warning as FIA vow to crack down on tricks | F1 | Sport
Toto Wolff, Christian Horner and the rest of Formula 1’s team principals have been fired a warning by the FIA, as the governing body looks to crack down on any tricks adapted to cars in 2022.
New regulations have been brought in for the new campaign with all cars now based on ground effect aerodynamics.
This therefore means the downforce will be created from underneath the vehicle, making the design of the floors imperative for constructors.
Despite the change, this has led to concern that teams could potentially manipulate their edges in order to produce a better performance, and as a result the FIA will be keeping a keen eye on such modifications.
Head of single-seater matters at the governing body, Nikolas Tombazis said they will keep a keen eye on the change, with testing expected to be carried out.
Tombazis, as per Autosport, said: “Regarding flexing the diffuser or the floor edges to go downwards.
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A key aspect behind the decision to bring new vehicle regulations, was to make the sport a more level playing field, and to increase competitiveness.
However, there are worries that these changes could lead to stiffer suspensions, which would in turn make the cars harder to drive.
Despite these concern, Tombazis said this could actually be a positive.
“We are aware that cars, in order to perform need, need to run lower and closer to the ground,” he added.
“As a result they need to be kept a bit stiffer than the previous cars. Some of the previous cars were running with enormous rakes and that is probably a thing of the past.
“We think that the ride quality, and the characteristics of the car that make it more easily driveable, are not necessarily things that need to be maintained in F1.
“We want drivers to make the difference and we want cars to be also difficult to drive, not easy.
“It’s never easy but you know what I mean. I think certain aspects to make cars a bit more aggressive to drive are quite important.”
