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According to Mercedes their rear wing in Brazil was just compliant with the regulations, but just didn’t get through the technical guidelines. Mike Elliott emphasizes that the team ran even tougher tests ahead of the weekend, with three times the power behind it, where the rear wing did come through.
After qualifying in Brazil, the Mercedes team had to report to race management because of a problem with Hamilton’s rear wing. On Saturday, the team’s representative had to report to race management again, after which the stewards deleted Hamilton from the qualifying result. As a result, he had to start from P20 during the sprint race. However, the reigning world champion managed to work his way up to fifth place.
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Where did it go wrong?
The big question, however, is where exactly went wrong last weekend. “The simple answer is that we failed a test that we should have passed. But it’s actually a bit more nuanced than that,” Elliott explains in a new video from Mercedes. “Within the regulations there are two things. You have the technical regulations, these are the regulations that we have to follow. Then you have the technical guidelines, which are issued by the FIA and generally explain how they will check against those regulations .”
“In this case you have the main plane of the rear wing and a flap,” he continues. “There is a rule that says there has to be a minimum gap between those wings and a maximum gap when the DRS is open. That maximum gap is 85mm. So that’s in those regulations and in that respect we passed. The reality is that we did not meet the technical guideline.”
Tests Mercedes
Elliott then explains the difference. “Within the technical guidelines they specify how that measurement will be taken. They say we have to pass a test where they push a cylinder with a diameter of 85 mm into that opening. They have to take it there with a minimum force of ten Newtons push through. The reality is that while we passed that for the most part, there was a little place where we didn’t pass that test.”
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The Mercedes CEO states that his team always does everything it can to deliver a legal car. For example, the wings are tested in the factory, but with a force of 30 Newtons. When they arrive on the track, they are tested again. “We also know that that wing has been approved in previous races.”
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