“People Will Say It’s Illegal”: Mercedes Warned Against Appeal From Rivals Over Ingenious Innovation on W15

The Mercedes team have delivered on their promise as they underwent a complete overhaul for the design of the W15. However, according to F1 expert Craig Scarborough, there is one element of the W15 that could land them in trouble. The technological expert believes that Mercedes’ rivals may launch an appeal against them for the same if they deem something illegal.

While speaking on Peter Windsor’s official YouTube channel, Scarborough explained how an F1 car’s front wing, as per the regulations, must have four elements. However, he believes by the first impression of the W15, it just has three.

He then pointed out that although the W15 does have four elements and meets the requirements of the regulations, some “people will say it’s illegal” since the fourth element is not clearly visible. Scarborough then explained how Mercedes have cleverly produced the fourth element of the front wing.

“When you count the elements next to the wing, first you only count three and not four. So, it is like what is going on here? What they have actually done is that they have narrowed down that fourth element”, explained Scarborough.

Scarborough is talking about the last section or flap of the front wing that has a very narrow thread-like connection to the car’s nose. This narrow section could be about 10 to 20 mm in cross-section.

The technological expert then added that Mercedes have deliberately produced such a design for the front wing to extract more performance, and at the same time ensure that they meet the regulation requirements. He then ended his remarks by stating that the FIA will definitely have a look at Mercedes’ design closely but expects them to get away with it.

Brawn once got away with an intelligent piece of innovation themselves

Back in their championship-winning season of 2009, Brawn GP was one of the three teams that came under heavy scrutiny due to a contentious design feature of their car – the double diffuser. The FIA introduced new regulations in 2009 that would decrease the downforce on the cars and would promote closer racing.

In an attempt to find a loophole in the regulations, Brawn GP along with Toyota and Williams got the idea of the double diffuser. Despite massive complaints from the rest of the teams, the FIA pronounced such designs legal. With the FIA having made their decision, the rest of the teams also chose to opt for the double diffuser design eventually.

A similar scenario could also be witnessed this season if Mercedes can extract a lot more performance because of their design. In that scenario, rival F1 teams can once again pressure the FIA to penalize the Silver Arrows.