F1 abandons mudguard idea after final Fiorano test
The FIA has abandoned the idea of equipping Formula 1 single-seaters with mudguards in extreme weather conditions after its latest test in Fiorano.
Ferrari recently helped the FIA evaluate a more comprehensive wheel protection concept during sessions at Fiorano test track, in order to see if it could help reduce water spray. The design was much more spectacular than the original idea tested at Silverstone last year, and Ferrari ran two cars close to each other to assess if it brought improvement.
The latest mudguards were deliberately excessive because the FIA wanted to better understand to what extent visibility would improve if there were no water splashes from the wheels. The conclusion after the test, based on video analysis, was that the benefit was minimal, there is still a huge amount of water projected by the diffuser. The FIA has decided that this idea was no longer worth pursuing, other options to try to help in dangerous conditions are now being studied.
Speaking to Autosport, Nikolas Tombazis, head of single-seaters at the FIA, declared that the mudguard project has now been halted because it will not bring the radical change that was hoped for. “We always knew that there were two main factors contributing to the spray cloud,” he said.
« One was the amount of water collected from the ground by the diffuser, and the other by the wheels. We thought about trying a mudguard even beyond what would be practical, to see what maximum we could achieve with it, in order to see if it was the solution or not. »
« The previous test [at Silverstone last year] was far too fragile. And so I don’t think it could ever have worked. So we pushed it to the limit just to see what we could get better from wheel protections. And while they have some effect, they don’t have a significant enough effect to say it’s the solution. Therefore, we’re starting over from scratch. Let’s just say I think we’ve answered some questions. We know where we stand, but I don’t think it continues as a project for now, as it is. Now, we know we have to find other ways to protect the races from cancellations. »
« We must think of different solutions »
The influence of the Venturi floor in the projection of a significant amount of water has sparked previous ideas about adding something to the diffuser to help reduce water projections in this area. However, Tombazis is skeptical of this idea, as he believes that any intervention in this area would have a significant negative impact on aerodynamic downforce generation.
« Theoretically, we could do something at this location, but that would mean removing all the support force, etc. So it would be a problem. To be honest, the next step is not easy. We need to discuss it,” he said. « But fundamentally, as a test, it [the design tested by Ferrari] worked because it showed us what we were looking for. Sometimes tests go well and you say fantastic, and sometimes they go the other way and tell you that the direction you are going in is not right and that you need to choose something else. It is this other way that we now need to implement. »
Tombazis said he had some ideas on what could be done, but did not want to make them public yet. “We must think of different solutions,” he explained.
In the end, what we want to avoid is a situation like Spa 2021 where a race is cancelled, shortened, delayed. Clearly, it will always be a compromise. The mudguards themselves were quite ugly, but if they had made a significant contribution, we would have been perfectly happy to install them once a year if it makes the difference between canceling a race or not. It was never planned to put them on every time it rains. But unfortunately, we have to try to think of other solutions.
