La FIA, following the meeting with the technical committee that took place Tuesday, gave the go-ahead to Mercedes to use the folding mirror system that debuted in tests in Bahrainjudging it compliant with the regulation.
The atmosphere is already warm inside Bahrain, and, for a change, at the center of the discussion is the stable that in the past has already been able to exploit unclear areas in the regulation to its advantage: the Mercedes. The W13 which debuted in Bahrain has raised several controversies due to the mirrors and their supports with an alleged aerodynamic function, which would go against the basic philosophy of the new regulation. In fact, there has been talk of a real “that” which would act as a flow diverter. This by regulation is illegal and the dubious nature of the supports Mercedes has raised so much controversy in the paddock as to open a discussion table between FIA and team to verify compliance with the regulation.
"The rules say that the bodywork declared as a support for the mirrors - there are two types - must meet certain conditions. It has to fit in this volume, it has to have no sections or anything. The way in which the standard is stated assigns the name mirror support to the bodywork part declared as such“, he had explained on the eve of the meeting Nick Tombazis, responsible FIA on issues related to single-seaters.
However what was questioned was not the real illegality of the mirrors, but rather the areas "gray” of the regulation which would allow it to be easily circumvented, going against the spirit on which it is built.
The first to take the field and make her voice heard was la Ferrari, which in 2018 had to give up a mirror support solution, judged to be irregular.
Mattia binotto, Team Principal of the Ferrari, expressed himself as follows regarding the question of the dubious legality of the media used by Mercedes: “La FIA he has always made it clear that the support for the mirrors must only have a structural function and if it involves an aerodynamic influence it must only be 'incidental'. If this was the principle emphasized by FIA in the past, I think it should be the same today and in the future, there is no reason to change your mind today".
This time however, in the case of the mirror holder of the W13, nothing was deemed irregular. Furthermore, a possible change to the regulation would have damaged more than one team, reopening discussions on the solutions brought by each one.
How long "the case” has been branded as “archived” by the FIA, a possible counter-protest by some teams cannot be excluded, Ferrari primarily.
However, this could happen later, if the W13 were to derive a concrete advantage from this solution.
