After a long meeting between the FIA, Red Bull and Mercedes, the governing body has decided to reject Red Bull’s protest against Mercedes’ innovative Dual-Axis steering system.
After free practice on Friday in Austria, the Red Bull team filed a formal protest against the DAS system that caught the attention of rivals during the pre-season winter tests when Mercedes first used it. DAS allows the suspension position to change and help tire warm-up at critical stages in qualifications and races. As a result, Red Bull has asked whether this complies with the technical regulation.
After Red Bull made an official complaint on Friday, the FIA race stewards held a hearing attended by members of both teams in person or via video, as well as Nikolas Tombazis from the FIA’s engineering department.
On behalf of Red Bull, Paul Monaghan, Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley emphasized that no adjustments should be made to a suspension system while the car is moving. Mercedes sent James Allison, Ron Meadows, John Owen and Andrew Shovlin to the hearing to defend the legality of the system.
No violation of the rules
As a result, the Austrian Grand Prix flight attendants – Gerd Ennser, Felix Holter, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Walter Jobst – decided that DAS could not violate suspension-related regulations.
“As a general conclusion, it is very easy to conclude that DAS would be illegal if it were not part of the steering system. The main challenge and discussion should therefore be whether it can be considered part of the steering system. Stewards decide that DAS is part of the steering system. “
“Therefore, the flight attendants consider DAS to be a legitimate part of the steering system and thus to comply with the relevant regulations regarding suspension or aerodynamic influence,” said the FIA statement.
The decision means that Mercedes can continue to use its controversial Dual-Axis steering system for the rest of the 2020 Formula 1 season. This system has already been banned before 2021.
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