F1 TECHNICAL RULES: At the same time that F1 tightened the rules, they also cleared Ferrari – Haas of any breaches.
There way joy at the decision not to apply retrospective laws. It seemed to calm down the fear of an impending competitive ‘accumulation of weapons’ in Grand Prix motor sport.
F1 Stewards Statement
The statement came at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi. It came in response to questions posed by the constructor’s champions Mercedes.
Mercedes denied targeting Ferrari. Instead, they insisted they were seeking clarification from F1 stewards about certain ‘ambiguities’ in the technical regulations.
Stewards made it clear that Ferrari would face no consequences or punishment for their work carried out this year with the new U.S.-based Haas team.
They also plan to make recommendations to the motor sport’s governing body – FIA Motor Racing. Any future ‘potential competitor’ should be bound by the rules once their application to enter the championship gets accepted. It should be the moment of official entry.
2016 Championship
The 2016 championship season begins in March. The official entry list gets published in December. This is despite the application from Haas getting accepted long ago.
Haas will use Ferrari power units and whatever parts and components the regulations allow in their debut next season.
Ferrari and the Italian team made significant progress towards the end of this season’s latter stages. They have emerged as the closest rivals to Mercedes, despite failing to win a race in 2014.
Nonetheless, their aerodynamic development and progress comes with suspicions. They benefited from their cooperative relationship with wind tunnel activities of Haas based in North Carolina.
Head of Motorsport Toto Wolff commented: “We are looking at 2016 in consideration of 2017 rules. The car might be completely different, about the scope of development we could be having with another team, about sharing resource”.
Aerodynamic Testing
Formula One stewards are adamant of the main aim of the technical co-operation rules. They said it was to: “Prevent an escalation of the costs associated with research and particularly in the area of aerodynamic testing”.
They said they wanted complete clarification on Formula One rules and regulations to avoid an ‘arms race‘. Teams could try to sign up as many technical cooperation partners as possible. They may attempt to speed up development and gain superiority for their racing cars.
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