The FIA rejects Lotus’s complaint about the W-Duct
Will we finally stop hearing about the W-Duct or passive F-Duct system developed by Mercedes AMG? Since the beginning of the season, this innovation from the German team has caused a stir among its rivals, and despite the FIA confirming its legality in Australia and Malaysia, Lotus F1 once again filed a complaint to have it banned, as we explained to you this morning.
At the end of a meeting between the commissioners, Lotus and Mercedes officials, the International Federation confirmed that the system used on Schumacher and Rosberg’s F1W03 is indeed legal, as it had already done during the two previous Grand Prix.
This decision was supported by the fact that the W-Duct is activated via the DRS and does not require any further action from the drivers. Additionally, the German team had requested clarification from the FIA on this matter before the start of the season to ensure they could develop such an innovation.
« The system has not changed and neither has the FIA’s position. There is nothing new, » explains Ross Brawn.
« The W-Duct is actually very inexpensive. It’s a simple and cheap system, but it is not easy to implement if you haven’t integrated it into your single-seater. That might be where the frustration of our rivals comes from,» explained the team principal of the Brackley team yesterday.
Although Lotus has the option to appeal this decision, the English team told our colleagues at Autosport that they accepted the stewards’ opinion. There is no doubt now that the engineers at Enstone will be looking into this famous system that McLaren is also working on.
