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Mercedes innovative DAS device banned for 2021

Mercedes' innovative Dual Axis System has been outlawed by the FIA for 2021, a move destined to protect F1 teams from a costly investment at a time of crisis for the sport.

The decision was approved by the World Motor Sport Council on Tuesday along with a raft of emergency measures justified by the global coronavirus pandemic and its financial impact on F1.

Among the rule changes for next season is the obligation for teams to carry over to next year their 2020 chassis designs, a decision that could have potentially allowed Mercedes to keep its DAS advantage.

The system, which allows drivers to tweak the toe angle of a car's front wheels, is an intricate part of the front suspension of the Silver Arrow W11.

However, Mercedes accepted not to fight the regulation change which bans its DAS.

"The re-alignment of the steered wheels must be uniquely defined by a monotonic function of the rotation of a single steering wheel about a single axis," stipulates the new article in the revised 2021 technical regulations.

"Furthermore, the inboard attachment points of the suspensions members connected to the steering system must remain a fixed distance from each other and can only translate in the direction normal to the car centre plane."

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Michael Delaney

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