The legality of the Mercedes F-Duct re-examined for China

The “F-Duct” installed by Mercedes on its rear wing is making headlines at the start of the season. It has been declared legal by the FIA even though it affects the car’s aerodynamics because it is not activated by the driver. Several teams – including Lotus and Red Bull – have recently requested clarification from the FIA, but the governing body has not changed its stance, arguing that the system is legal.

However, a new study on the compliance of the system implemented by the Mercedes AMG team should be conducted during the next race in China. Ferrari and Lotus may have found an argument proving that the system does not comply with the regulations defined by the FIA.

According to Auto Motor und Sport, Ferrari believes that the driver is not allowed to activate any other system than the DRS by pressing the button intended for DRS activation.

Furthermore, Christian Horner, the director of the Red Bull team, told Sky Sports that nearly half of the teams believed the system was illegal, which likely prompted the FIA to conduct a more in-depth investigation: « Believe it or not, but it’s not just Red Bull, I think there’s half of the paddock studying this. »

The system provides a top-speed advantage to the F1 W03 of Schumacher and Rosberg, allowing the team to run with more aerodynamic downforce without sacrificing top speed. It is therefore an interesting system that could be copied by other teams on the grid.

But some prefer to have clarification on the legality before spending significant amounts and resources on designing such a system. This is notably the case for the Sauber team.

«If we start now with a blank slate, we could be ready in two months. But it would be really difficult. We need to ask ourselves if it’s worth the cost for us, or if it’s better to improve by going through the conventional stages. On the other hand, large teams can manage such development in parallel with their program,» shared Matt Morris, the chief designer of the Sauber team, quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

In order to clearly determine whether this system is allowed or not, the FIA should re-examine the issue in China. It will be Charlie Whiting, the race director and technical delegate of the FIA, who will be responsible for validating the system or not.

Charlie Whiting, the technical delegate, took all of this into consideration [editor’s note: all the requests for clarification] and we had several discussions with him during the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend. I think he wanted to be able to think about it and obviously we will respect his decision when he sorts things out in China, Horner told Sky Sports.

If Lotus, Red Bull, Ferrari, Sauber, and probably Toro Rosso seem rather favorable to a ban on the system implemented by the Mercedes AMG team, as in recent weeks, there is one team that does not want to get involved in the controversy, it’s the McLaren team, powered by Mercedes.