“I’d be amazed if the stewards go against”– Ross Brawn doesn’t think Mercedes protest at Azerbaijan will make any difference.
Mercedes has confirmed that if Red Bull steps in Azerbaijan Grand Prix with the same bendy wing, it would launch a protest and approach the stewards.
However, Ross Brawn, the Managing director of Formula 1, doesn’t think that either the FIA or stewards would be affected by the efforts of the world champions.
“No, I don’t think so. I think the FIA have been pretty consistent with their approach,” he added. “I’d be amazed if the stewards go against the opinion of the FIA,” said Brawn.
Brawn, who worked for Benetton, Ferrari, Honda and Mercedes before joining F1, said the FIA had faced similar challenges in the past. I think this is probably Flexi rear wing version 27 [in Formula One’s history],” he added.
“In 40 years of motor racing, I’ve been through this many times. I can remember [Williams technical director] Patrick Head jumping on our front wing in parc ferme because he considered it wasn’t stiff enough.
“He wanted to demonstrate to Charlie [Whiting, FIA race director] that it wasn’t stiff enough, so he actually stood on it and bounced up and down to demonstrate how flexible it was.”
“There are a set of FIA tests and that’s the only way we have been able to determine the limits of what you can do. If you pass the tests and some [rival] teams don’t like it, the FIA can look at it, say ‘fair point’ and stiffen the tests and do different tests, so it’s perpetual.”
Can’t head a different route
The test scheduled by FIA that could solve Mercedes’ issues will happen after Azerbaijan GP, and he thinks that is the right route to see a conclusion.
“I honestly don’t believe there is any case for going in a different route to solve the problem, because I don’t know how you quantify it. One person’s view of it being too flexible is another person’s view of it being OK, and that’s why we have the tests.”
“If you put a mechanism in there or a hinge in there, I agree that’s not correct. But within the normal compliance of the structure, I don’t see a problem.”
