0:09 - Mercedes' DAS System Illegal for 2021 But Will Probably Stay for 2020 1:57 - DAS Will Take 6 Months to Copy
2:46 - Honda and Red Bull in their “Best Shape of the Hybrid Era”
3:32 - Fast Feed
Mercedes' DAS System Illegal for 2021 But Will Probably Stay for 2020
Even though the 2020 pre-season testing started like any other, Mercedes stirred things up with the DAS or dual axis steering system.
Their drivers Hamilton and Bottas were seen pushing and pulling on the wheel to change the alignment of the front wheels.
While the rest of the field has conflicting views on this system, only time will tell if the system will stay. The present rules are a bit ambiguous and it will probably take strong protests from the other teams to ban the device.
However, it will most likely be illegal for 2021 as per Section 10.5.2 of the new regulations which states:
“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 driver Sebastian Vettel, who was down with a flu and finally made it to the pre-season testing, was somewhat supportive of the DAS.
"I've seen it and the fact that they use it makes me think it's legal. It's probably not as easy for the driver to use as it seems. We'll see. It's definitely an innovation for everyone."
Red Bull's advisor Helmut Marko, however, was of the opinion that the system is illegal for 2020 as well. He explained by saying
"If you actively adjust the 'camber' while driving, the contact surface of the tyres with the asphalt changes. The height of the car to the road surface is therefore changed, even if it is only a very small amount."
He revealed that something similar has already been banned by the FIA
"It is forbidden, however, because the concept has similarities with the working method of a forbidden active suspension."
It seems this system is destined to invoke a lot of debate until the FIA releases its official views on it.
DAS Will Take 6 Months to Copy
As it was reported here yesterday, Racing Point has been getting a lot of flak for making a near copy of Mercedes' 2019 car.
Since the DAS became the talk of the F1 world, questions naturally started swinging towards Racing Point about the possibility of them copying the innovative system.
The team's technical director Andy Green did not mince any words and spoke frankly about the realities surrounding copying the DAS system.
“The DAS is not so easy to copy. Even a big team with huge resource like Ferrari and Red Bull, will take six months to copy it."
“You would have to completely rework out the front area of the car and maybe also change the chassis.”
Many feel that it might already be too late to implement such a complex system especially since it might be illegal for next year.
Honda and Red Bull in their “Best Shape of the Hybrid Era”
Red Bull has been at the receiving end of grid penalties due to the team exceeding the maximum number of allotted engines for every year of the hybrid era.
The team's principal Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull and their engine partners Honda are finally in a position to buck that trend.
"We are not planning to use a fourth engine at the moment. The plan is to reach the end with three engines."
He also sounded very optimistic about the team's progress as evidenced by the team's showing at the pre-season testing so far
"I think it's been positive for us so far, the car is behaving as predicted and it's on its targets. Focusing on ourselves we're happy with what we've achieved so far. This week is focused on getting mileage on the board and understanding tyres and characters on the car. We're in the best shape we've been in the hybrid era.”
Fast Feed
- Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner is okay with customer teams copying the factory teams as "it creates" a "more competitive grid" and "it makes Formula 1 more affordable" For the smaller teams
- Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel has confirmed that they will "only turn the engine up in Melbourne”
- Mercedes' technical director James Allison has commented that the team was a "little disappointed" after their day at testing came to a premature end due to an electric issue
- Lewis Hamilton "felt physically fantastic" after the end of his first day of the 2020 pre-season testing
- He also revealed that his contact renewal talks with Mercedes are down to ironing out "the small details"
- McLaren driver Carlos Sainz wants the team to be at most "one second behind" the top teams as compared to the previous 1.2 seconds
- Racing Point's Sergio Perez is confident that their 2020 car has "shown potential" and wants the team to ensure that they "arrive in Melbourne as strong as possible"
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