Formula 1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds believes the sport’s governing body has gone too far in its efforts to reduce ‘popping’ after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
The FIA has introduced a series of rule changes in response to some drivers being fined for hitting their cars after much-improved rules were introduced this year. Lewis Hamilton was particularly saddened by his difficult journey through the Baku city circuit.
A new standard has been introduced by the FIA that limits how many cars can flash. For 2023, the physical dimensions of the cars’ surfaces are being changed in an effort to reduce the incidence of ‘fleece’. But Symonds believes the changes go too far.
“I think they overreacted a little bit after they lost,” he told Auto Motor & Sport. “In Baku, we saw the worst impact because a group tried something that didn’t work and then went public very loudly.
“If they had not intervened, the problem would have been solved. Most groups now understand how to control flirting.
As the season progressed, teams such as Mercedes were increasing their offensive problems. However, in some districts, including Yas Marina, it was a major factor in the final scene of the season.
Symonds, who has decades of experience as an F1 engineer, admits he and his team could not have foreseen the problem when the FIA introduced the basic impact rules for 2022.
“I have to admit, it wasn’t on our radar,” he said. But we should have. [foreseen] it is.
“Because we worked with dynamic simulations, we already had the ability to know. For example, we use them to verify what happens when a car spins and air gets under it. So the type of accident Mark Webber once had in Valencia. This requires special software that we can use to predict and understand the decline.”
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“I should have known, because I work on cars that work on the ground. I just forgot about it. Undoubtedly, arguing has changed things. The teams had to solve this problem first before working on the aerodynamics. Concussion is not just an airborne problem. Many mechanics also play a role, such as the stiffness of the suspension.
Some aspects of the teams’ design came as a surprise to him, including Mercedes’ radical ‘Zero-Pod’ concept and the aggressive rear wing used by Aston Martin, which Simmonds suspects will soon be outlawed.
“We couldn’t see anything on the cars that would affect our opinion,” he said. “A few things were definitely more radical than we thought.
“For example, Mercedes. Later we tested and evaluated the concept in CFD and I have to say that the shape of the Mercedes is easier to follow than the other cars.
“The Aston Martin rear wing was also something we didn’t expect. I see a danger in this idea that if the idea is pursued further and pushed to its limits, it may go astray. I expect the FIA to ban that for 2023.
F1’s biggest teams have had great success with the new rules. Just one podium from McLaren’s Lando Norris at Imola prevented Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes from sweeping the rostrum places in 2022.
Simmonds admitted that under the new rules, completion was not as close as he had hoped, but hoped that would change next year. “We reckon some teams still have big aerodynamic parts that go beyond the new rules,” he said.
But hopefully the front-to-back gap will close quickly. This can be seen a bit later in the season.
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