The rules do not allow much room for maneuver
Oliver Bearman‘s accident during the Japanese GP at Suzuka essentially confirmed what drivers had already made clear for some time, namely that the speed difference that can be created between a car in the charging phase and another in the boost phase can create potentially very dangerous situations like the one that saw the Haas driver forced to dive into the escape road to ‘dodge’ the ‘wall’ created by Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, which was 80 km/h slower.
Read more Todt: “Senna wanted to come to Ferrari in 1994. I wanted to bring him in 1995”
The FIA has released an official note in which it underlined that “it has been agreed between the parties that, although the events held so far have offered exciting races, there is a commitment to make changes to some aspects of the regulations within the framework of energy management“. Driver safety is a topic that – and the opposite would be very serious – is definitely close to Liberty Media’s heart given that we are talking about the main actors of the show, the famous ‘gladiators’ ready to enter the arena.
As highlighted in the latest issue of Autosprint, however, the room for maneuver is very limited because these power units ‘trap’ the Circus. The timing for all the corrective measures revolving around a new power distribution that is not 50 and 50 between the thermal and electrical components is estimated at two years; even the hypothesis of increasing the fuel flow would require a whole series of modifications – tank capacity, cooling system, and their locations – which cannot be implemented overnight. “A second path seems more feasible – reads the article by Alessandro Gargantini – which is to limit the power of the electrical component to reduce charging times and limit the speed difference. Even this path does not offer an ideal solution since the cars would become slower and the safety issue would not be completely resolved. It is very likely that, for now, small corrective measures will be adopted and new and more visible warning lights on the rear wing will be introduced“.
Read more Aston Martin: despite the problems, the updates show interesting ideas
In the end, therefore, the drivers will have to save themselves by adding to the already extensive list of things to keep under control the possibility that the car ahead could suddenly and noticeably slow down at any moment.
