In the FIA’s plans it was that before the beginning of December the test should have been carried out with the new mudflaps to improve the visibility of the drivers in the event of a very wet race. An experiment that had been carried out at Silverstone on the sidelines of the tire tests had not given the expected results, because the fairings that had been designed were not able to limit the spray.
The first idea was shelved, but a second project was started, the testing of which was postponed to May next year: the tight end-of-season calendar and the need not to affect the budget cap advised the teams willing to collaborate with the FIA to return to the track around the middle of next year.
Nikolas Tombazis, technical manager for the single-seater sector of the FIA, willingly accepted the teams’ indications: “Obviously for these tests we receive the support of the teams who prepare the kits, given that we do not have single-seaters available. The test was expected by November, but the teams, engaged in a demanding end of the championship, had indicated that they would have to outsource the work of creating the parts with an increase in expenses that would have been very expensive. It was therefore right to postpone the tests until the end of spring.”
In addition to an organizational aspect, there is also a technical issue to resolve. The idea is to fair the wheels with a removable solution, so the splashes originating from the full wet tires would be manageable, while there would be no form of control for the water sucked up from the bottom and shot out of the rear extractor.
“We still have doubts – explains Tombazis – about what the actual proportion is between the spray from the wet tires and that from the rear diffuser. We know that both factors are quite significant and we are clearly aware that the problem cannot be solved completely.”
“What we will try in May will not be the final solution. The test will allow us to collect useful information to understand if we are going in the right direction, otherwise we will have to think of yet another solution. If, however, the session gives a positive outcome it may make sense to introduce the change on the 2025 cars, whereas otherwise it would be postponed to 2026″.
Tombazis believes that the 2026 technical standards could facilitate the achievement of a goal since the influence of the speaker will be less than today. Someone had also proposed the introduction of a blast of air that would push the spray downwards: the solution, however, would have a strong impact on the possibility of generating load, so the teams don’t want to hear about it…
“If, to improve visibility in case of rain, we have to find ourselves with cars with less grip – concludes Tombazis – we would not have made a big step forward, so every intervention will have to be evaluated with the necessary attention”.
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