LEWIS HAMILTON’s controversial steering system has been banned from 2021 – as Ferrari weigh-up whether to appeal against its use this season.
SunSport revealed yesterday how the aeroplane-style steering column allows Hamilton and his team-mate Valtteri Bottas to move the wheel forward and backwards to adjust the angle of the front wheels.
Hamilton showed off the new mode during Thursday’s sessionCredit: Sky Sports F1
The new steering wheel that Mercedes are using this seasonCredit: PA:Press Association
It could give his Mercedes team a HUGE advantage, despite being given the green light from the sport’s governing body [FIA].
However, while rivals Ferrari say they will respect the FIA’s decision, they are planning to scrutinise the duel-axis system (DAS) to see if it breaks any other rules.
Article 10.5 of F1’s 2021 technical rules says: “The re-alignment of the steered wheels, as defined by the position of the inboard attachment of the relevant suspensions members that remain a fixed distance from each other, must be uniquely defined by a monotonic function of the rotational position of a single steering wheel.”
Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto said: “I’ve seen that there is a lot of discussion about it.
“Personally myself, I didn’t really look in detail, what it’s about, but I think we trust fully the FIA.
“I’m pretty sure that they have already done the right decision, or they will do it. But I completely trust on what FIA will judge.
“I think we need to first understand how it works and understand what could be the area of performance benefit.
DAS IST GUT – HOW DAS COULD BENEFIT HAMILTON
- By moving the angle of the front wheels, to toe-in the wheel, it reduced the drag on the Mercedes on the straights by channelling the air away from the car.
- The yoke-like steering rack can also toe-out the wheels going into a tight corner, effectively giving the Mercedes’ drivers more grip.
- The other advantage could be to reduce the temperature in the tyres on the straights, preserving their life span, meaning fewer stops.
Will the development give Hamilton a big advantage in the defence of his F1 world title?Credit: Alamy Live News
“I don’t think at the moment we’ve got any ideas. But we will look into it, no doubt, and [whether] it is worthwhile developing or not.”
Meanwhile, Binotto says that Ferrari are not as quick as they had hoped to be at this stage of the season, halfway through preseason testing.
He added: “I’m not as optimistic as last year and I think the others are faster than us at the moment.
“How much faster is difficult to judge and we will pull the data in the coming days. But I don’t think we’re as fast as them at the moment.
“Do we have any concerns? Yes, when you are not as fast as you want to be, but I think it’s too early to define them so these three days have been very important.
“We have a clear picture which allows better understanding and what will be more important is to develop the car in the right direction.
“Having said that, it’s a very long season, so there will be time to recover. But, let’s wait for next week and Australia to truly assess what’s the true performance of the car.”
Meanwhile, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel says his team were caught out by Mercedes’s innovation.
He said: “It is called a steering wheel not a push or pull wheel.
“I don’t know if it works, I guess there is quite a lot of work to bring it to the track and it is probably not as easy as it looks for the driver to work with it.
“For sure it was a novelty for us to see. These things are never easy but I also guess it is not easy to operate, I think it is quite weird to have the feeling of having the wheel in your hands.
“Imagine you are used to running with running shoes and then you are asked to run with your flip flops. You can do that but it feels very different.”
Lewis Hamilton talks about his experience testing the new Mercedes W11 Formula 1 racing car
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
