Red Bull forces Mercedes to modify its car

At the request of Red Bull, the FIA studied the brake cooling system installed on the rear axle of the Mercedes. Even before the start of the race weekend in Australia, the FIA, in its technical directive 014/020, asked Mercedes to review the way they cooled the rear brakes of their car.

This solution has been used by Mercedes since last season, and the team intended to integrate it again in its 2020 car.

The Red Bull team wanted to demonstrate, upon reading article 5.1 of the technical regulations, that the brake ducts of the Mercedes are not compliant: « the ducts around the rear brakes will be considered part of the braking system and must not exceed: 1 a) a plane parallel to the ground located at a distance of 160 mm above the horizon line of the wheel. »

The FIA indeed found that this cooling system was above the 160 mm limit.

However, Mercedes used the upper arm of its rear suspension to create an additional inlet that cooled the outside of the brake duct. This technique developed by Mercedes provided a significant advantage in managing the tires and their temperatures. Cooling or ventilating this space between the rim and the tire drastically reduced the heat transfer from the brake to the tire and thereby prevented the overheating of the Pirelli rubber.

This notification will push Mercedes to modify its cooling system deemed illegal. But this will not only impact the Silver Arrows, the pink arrow or the Racing Point 2020 car will also have to review its rear end, largely inspired by last year’s Mercedes.

One thing is certain, the battle between rival teams is not yet happening on the track, but it is present behind the scenes. Mercedes will have to be wary of its rivals who would now like to have the DAS (Dual Axis Steering) system of the Brackley car banned.