2021 São Paulo Grand Prix - Interlagos, Nov 12-14

[nevill3]

So reading the full stewards report reveals that Mercedes argued that the DRS was still legal when opened and only failed the test when force was applied which was a rule added by a technical directive rather than the technical specs. That the wing was within the technical regs, as mentioned earlier would have meant that they would have been allowed to repair the worn parts if this had been a regular weekend and not a sprint weekend. The car would probably been scrutineered after FP2 on a normal weekend and repaired for the next session. A mixture of bad luck that this happened this weekend probably compounded by the budget cap and delayed freight from the last race and possibly fatigue on the part of the mechanics.

No complaints from me regarding the disqualification as the rules were broken I feel it is just a shame that the outcome will probably mean the end of this most wonderful season of close nail-biting competition that I think any true F1 fan has really enjoyed. It would have been great to go to the last race with everything still to play for for both teams

[Starkblood80]

if read it right, the issue is they want to see at least 10 N of force. It went through and generated force, but not 10N!

Sounds like the part failed by the slimmest of margins but fail it did. I am a little surprised to see the stewards didn’t allow Mercedes to inspect the wing for damage though

[search]

can we expect Bottas to start on Softs today to attack Verstappen?! Usually 2nd is a pretty bad starting spot in Brazil, but I can't see many other opportunities to get the win instead...

[Tvetovnato]

So reading the full stewards report reveals that Mercedes argued that the DRS was still legal when opened and only failed the test when force was applied which was a rule added by a technical directive rather than the technical specs. That the wing was within the technical regs, as mentioned earlier would have meant that they would have been allowed to repair the worn parts if this had been a regular weekend and not a sprint weekend. The car would probably been scrutineered after FP2 on a normal weekend and repaired for the next session. A mixture of bad luck that this happened this weekend probably compounded by the budget cap and delayed freight from the last race and possibly fatigue on the part of the mechanics.

No complaints from me regarding the disqualification as the rules were broken I feel it is just a shame that the outcome will probably mean the end of this most wonderful season of close nail-biting competition that I think any true F1 fan has really enjoyed. It would have been great to go to the last race with everything still to play for for both teams

Well put. The 5 place grid drop was already a heavy blow to the championship fight, but this just ends it. Unlucky and a real shame. This has not been Lewis and Mercedes season at all, and this just adds to it. Was looking forward to an Abu Dhabi showdown, but it will most likely end sooner than that now.

[jumpingfish]

What I cannot understand is, what and how Adrian Newey could see with that rear wing from onboards or whatever reason was they asked for clarification?

[mstar]

i think merc, should appealed. What could happen worse? they admitted it was shown the design and intent was not at fault so it just basically "something happened on track" and they failed the test.

[WaikeCU]

I can’t read this thread without not noticing the toxicity towards Merc and Lewis. Some of the language and words used to label professionals is just beyond my imagination.

I will come back to this thread on Monday morning and enjoy the rest of this Brazilian weekend.

Have a good one lads.

[jjn9128]

Is this for this race or has Mercedes been doing this for a while now? Anyways Hamilton had 6km/hr over Bottas, that is huge. How much is that worth? 2 Tenths? 1 tenth? 2.5 Tenths? 3 Tenths? Would vary from track to track but it is a difference & one of the reason why Lewis is above Bottas & Verstappen by a huge margin.

Total cheat act by Mercedes running an illegal Rear Wing intentionally when they got RB's then legal flexi rear wing banned by cribbing & by getting new tests introduced mid-season. No such thing was done for DAS. Anyways, really horrible act.

Verstappen has lost a lot - Baku Tyre failure, Hamilton taking him out in Britain, Agent Bottas in Hungary. This will partially compensate for all that. This is a championship where Verstappen has been far superior & should have had a 60-70 point lead & he should have clinched the Championship in Brazil. Norris, Leclerc, Sainz have all been better than Hamilton this season & to some extent Gasly as well !

Incredible that Mercedes/Hamilton tried to blame Verstappen for it - And amazing that Bottas literally has an inferior car - 2 Tenths+ slower & not the illegal rear wing car (if Mercedes thought it was legal) - He has been treated like Hamilton's dog ! Bottas is Hamilton's Rubens Barrichello & that is Lewis kept cribbing about Bottas' being his best team-mate when he got beaten or drew with Rosberg, Button & Alonso (Because he knew Bottas was his toy !)

There are some issues here, but the main technical one is that DRS opening checks are part of the technical inspection carried out on all top 10 qualifiers. So it's not a cheat, and this is an isolated incident.

[Starkblood80]

Did Horner just say you don’t deliberately design something to break the regulations I have no idea how he kept a straight face. Even the commentator laughed.

[jjn9128]

Did Horner just say you don’t deliberately design something to break the regulations I have no idea how he kept a straight face. Even the commentator laughed.

He's right, breaking regulations is dumb and gets you DSQ'd. Working to the limit of the wording is the razor edge. If a TD has to be issued because of something you're doing you're doing it right.

[Starkblood80]

I can’t read this thread without not noticing the toxicity towards Merc and Lewis. Some of the language and words used to label professionals is just beyond my imagination.

I will come back to this thread on Monday morning and enjoy the rest of this Brazilian weekend.

Have a good one lads.

Some of the comments are frightening

[Starkblood80]

Did Horner just say you don’t deliberately design something to break the regulations I have no idea how he kept a straight face. Even the commentator laughed.

He's right, breaking regulations is dumb and gets you DSQ'd. Working to the limit of the wording is the razor edge. If a TD has to be issued because of something you're doing you're doing it right.

https://www.racecar-engineering.com/new ... d-illegal/
Pretty sure that was by design. It could also be argued their rear wings this season were designed to break regulations.

[jjn9128]

Did Horner just say you don’t deliberately design something to break the regulations I have no idea how he kept a straight face. Even the commentator laughed.

He's right, breaking regulations is dumb and gets you DSQ'd. Working to the limit of the wording is the razor edge. If a TD has to be issued because of something you're doing you're doing it right.

https://www.racecar-engineering.com/new ... d-illegal/
Pretty sure that was by design. It could also be argued their rear wings this season were designed to break regulations.

You could incorrectly argue that. The regulations state the wing has to pass a series of static load tests. Theirs passed these tests and was therefor legal.

[astracrazy]

Did Horner just say you don’t deliberately design something to break the regulations I have no idea how he kept a straight face. Even the commentator laughed.

You talk like its only Red Bull? Mercedes have had their fair share of technical directives aimed at them through the year. Simon Lazenby laughing isn't anything to go by.

[Marty_Y]

"The Team will not be appealing Lewis’ disqualification from Quali.

We want to win these World Championships on the race track. "

I guess they just want to draw a line under this whole embarrassing situation, knowing that it wouldn't likely change anything anyway.