Mercedes was found to be illegal! The rear wing of Lewis Hamilton being tested did not respect the maximum clearance of 85 mm between the main profile and the movable flap and the sports commissioners’ council decreed, after a terribly long council chamber, that the W12 of the seven-time champion of the world will start last in today’s Sprint Qualifying, because all the times of the qualifying have been canceled for the British driver.
A real blow to Toto Wolff’s team because the barbina figure remedied in the GP of San Paolo will have strong repercussions not only in Brackley, but above all in Stuttgart. Yesterday before qualifying Adrian Newey, designer of the RB16B, and Paul Moneghan, sporting director of Red Bull, had gone to report to the FIA that Mercedes was using a flexible rear wing which they said did not respect the technical regulations of F1.
Here is the Mercedes rear wing that caused Lewis Hamilton to be excluded from qualifying for the Sao Paulo GP
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Jo Bauer, technical delegate of the International Federation, immediately after the Q3 dispute went to check the conformity of the opening of the movable flap of Hamilton’s black arrow. And, from the analysis carried out with the circular template loaded with a force of 10 N, the irregularity of the solution emerged, triggering the report to the sports commissioners (two out of four Italians are part of it, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Matteo Perini) who they took almost a day to hear the parties and issue a verdict.
The FIA technician’s report was unequivocal: “The positions of the rear wing movable flap were checked on the car number 44 with regards to the compliance established by article 3.6.3 of the F1 2021 technical regulation. The minimum clearance requirement is was satisfied, while that of the maximum distance between the elements of 85 mm, when the DRS system was verified in accordance with TD / 011-19, was not satisfied. I refer the question to the commissioners for their considerations “.
Detail of the rear wing with the mobile flap open which must not have a light greater than 85 mm
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
The distance between the closed mobile wing and the main profile must be 10 mm
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
And since in the very long investigation (Brackley’s men were heard at 10.30 am Interlagos time) no new evidence emerged that could exonerate Mercedes, an inevitable sanction was voted that weighs like a boulder on a team that has dominated the world of GPs has been uninterrupted for seven years now.
Toto Wolff’s men tried to find justifications to explain the non-compliance with the regulation, but the stewards, while conceding the mitigation that it was an occasional episode, decided to proceed with the exclusion.
Ron Meadows, sporting director of Mercedes and Simon Cole have been called up as sporting commissioners
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
The stewards heard from Ron Meadows, Mercedes sports director, and Simon Cole, the chief engineer of the track engineers, while Jo Bauer, Technical Delegate, and Nicholas Tombazis, Technical Director of the single-seaters, spoke for the FIA. The commissioners postponed the hearing to gather further information Saturday morning thanks to the video conference intervention by John Howen, Mercedes chief designer.
Howen argued that the project complies with the regulation. The stewards agreed that the irregularity was due to a play between the elements or the actuator of the DRS or the supports of the side bulkheads, or the combination of all of these, if not the incorrect assembly of the parts. The stewards took note that the wing had been examined several times during the season, always resulting in good standing, so they recognize the good faith of Mercedes, excluding willful misconduct.
Mercedes tried to contest the measurement template, then arguing that only part of the wing section was found to be non-compliant: the commissioners considered this case an attenuating case, just as the action of Max Verstappen was not considered binding. touched the W12 of Hamilton, despite the prohibition to do so in a parc fermé. The Red Bull driver was punished in another measure with a fine of 50,000 euros, but his intervention was deemed irrelevant to the case.
Will the Brazilian episode have repercussions not only on the world championship trend which, at this point, will definitely turn in the direction of Max Verstappen, but will it be able to create strong repercussions on the image of the Star brand?
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