Fred Vasseur says that Ferrari did the right thing in opting “not to fight” the FIA on the clampdown on skid blocks contained in a recent technical directive.
The Italian outfit was one of several teams that has had to make changes to meet the clarification issued by the FIA, and which could potentially oblige them to run their cars higher than the optimum.
Teams wanted the implementation of the change to be delayed until at least Qatar, but the FIA insisted that it be applied in Las Vegas,
Vasseur insists that the SF-24’s plank met the rules, but the team didn’t want to be distracted in the closing races of the season by a technical argument.
“Yes, we had to make the change,” said Vasseur. “But we had also the confirmation before this that the plank was legal, from the FIA.
“I think it was the right attitude for us not to fight because that I want to stay focused on the on the championship, and not on this kind of discussion. But the approach was strange.”
Toto Wolff confirmed that Mercedes was also affected, noting: “Yeah, we had to change the way we run the floor as well,” while Oliver Oakes made a similar comment about Alpine.
However VCARB’s Alan Permane confirmed that his team hasn’t had to change its car.
“It was extremely easy for us because it didn’t affect us at all,” he said. “So we haven’t changed our plank at all.”
Regarding the FIA’s strong stance Permane said: “That’s their job, and that’s a constantly evolving process of teams finding I don’t say loopholes but maybe anomalies in the regulations, and exploiting things, and the FIA closing them off.
“And that isn’t unusual, that process happens in in lots of areas, all the way through the season. So it’s something pretty standard.”
Regarding VCARB’s close rivals he added: “I believe Haas and Alpine were exploiting it. So maybe it’ll slow them down a bit. If it does it will be very small, I’m sure.”
Adam Cooper F1 