The current ground effect cars have an endemic tendency: understeer that occurs at low speed when entering corners. All the teams were studying solutions to reduce this behavior that has a major impact on tire life and lap time.
For once, the FIA intervened before the issue could become a burning one: the International Federation published on July 31 a regulatory change to the 2024 Technical Regulations in Article 11.2.1 regarding brakes: “The braking system must be designed so that, within each circuit, the forces applied to the brake pads are of the same magnitude and act as opposite torques on a given brake disc. Any system or mechanism that can systematically or intentionally produce asymmetric braking torques on a given axle is prohibited”.
The regulatory change of a rule that is in force has passed thanks to the unanimous approval of the ten teams, a sign that there was no team that had already tried something that could allow asymmetric braking. The FIA had left an interpretative gap with the wording of the old article and with the new draft it closes any “malicious” reading.
Third pedal of the McLaren MP4-13 in the 1998 version
Picture of: George Piola
Evidently there were those who, in some way, wanted to dust off in a more modern way an ingenious concept that McLaren had adopted on the MP4-13 thanks to a brilliant idea by Steve Nichols introduced in 1997 and rejected at the start of the 1998 season. The Woking team had introduced a third pedal that allowed for selective breaking.
What was it? In addition to the accelerator and brake pedals, there was a third, smaller element that the driver could activate with his left foot: on the rear axle it was possible to establish an asymmetric braking distribution thanks to which the inside wheel was slowed down more, favoring easier entry into curves.
Selective braking, therefore, simulated rear-wheel steering: McLaren had used this system in the last three winning races of 1997 and had presented itself at the beginning of 1998 with an advanced concept that the FIA had rejected after the Australian GP following the complaint presented by several teams after the one-two by Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.
The International Federation, this time, managed to intervene in a preventive manner…
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