Six teams are expected to counter the FIA’s proposed changes to the technical regulations next season as they attempt to counter “porpoising” and bouncing.
In Canada, the govern body started measuring the cars to see how much the cars were oscillating and, as of the Belgian Grand Prix, teams could be asked to raise the ride height of their cars by at least 10 millimetres.
Moving skid blocks will be banned after the summer break, but there are a raft of other changes coming in next season.
The front wing edges will be raised as well as the underfloor diffuser throat, while more stringent deflections tests are set to be brought in, along with more accurate sensors to help the FIA understand how much the cars are oscillating.
The argument against it goes back to the original issue that Red Bull and Ferrari had to begin with when the technical directive was announced several weeks back.
The leading two teams felt as though the goalposts were being moved at Mercedes’ behest after their performance struggles since the return of ground effect aerodynamics, so they are unhappy that more changes, which could affect their performance, are being brought in.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner stated that the directive should have gone through “consultation” before making a decision that could massively affect some teams on the grid, while Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto affirmed that the directive was not “applicable” due to the fact that it had an influence on the rules.
Now, Ferrari, Red Bull, AlphaTauri, Haas, Alfa Romeo and Williams are all said to be protesting the new rules coming into effect next year.
Binotto does not feel as though safety can be used as a justification for a significant change to the regulations, because most teams have managed to avert the danger of “porpoising” and bouncing now.
“There is no reason to look at this as a safety problem because most teams have the bouncing under control now,” explained the Italian, quoted by grandpx.news.
“And from Spa there are fixed limits anyway, so if the cars comply with the specifications, they should be safe.
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“And if there is no safety argument, the normal voting process must be followed when the rules are changed.”
Dr Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s adviser, agrees with the Ferrari boss, and suggested that there is collusion between the Mercedes powered teams.
“The teams that voted for it are McLaren, Aston Martin and Mercedes,” added the 79-year-old.
“Funnily enough, all teams with Mercedes engines. Is that a coincidence?” he said, although Williams, who are also Mercedes-powered, are one of the teams said to be protesting the changes.
As for safety, he asserts that the teams pushing for alterations have to come up with a better reason than safety.
“There must be valid arguments, just emphasising safety is not enough, and Ferrari will not accept this either,” said Dr Marko.
Also discussed in next year’s regulations will be flexible planks, which several unnamed teams are thought to be using.