The FIA lowered the boom on Mercedes and instructed the German outfit to modify the front wing of its W10 before Friday's free practice.
The governing body judged as illegal the endplate of the front wing, which visibly exposed the uppermost element, a ploy the FIA believed could increase the outwash effect produced by the wing.
Article 3.3.6 of the technical regulations states: "Once the front wing profiles have been defined, they must be trimmed by the virtual endplate surface defined in Article 3.3.5, and the portion of the front wing profiles outboard of that surface must be discarded".
The article covers 2019 endplate geometry as dictated by the rules introduced to restrict teams exploitation of the outwash phenomenon.
The FIA frowned upon Mercedes' interpretation of the rules, and required the Silver Arrows squad to modify the endplate accordingly, a decision the team duly complied with.
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