F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Ferrari and Mercedes admit to plank changes based on FIA’s TD

Ferrari and Mercedes have both modified their car’s floor element in Las Vegas to comply with the FIA’s latest technical directive, but Scuderia boss Fred Vasseur called the latest ruling “strange”.

The TD was published ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix to address a loophole in the regulations involving excessive plank wear.

The FIA’s move targets the use of ‘satellite skids’ designed to protect the plank. The metal skids are installed further away from specific measuring points on the plank to offer further protection.

However, while the skids were meant to match the vertical stiffness of the main skids located at the plank’s measuring points, no specific thickness was mandated.

Using thicker skids effectively shielded the plank from breaching the FIA’s 1mm wear tolerance, which in turn allowed teams to run their car closer to the ground.

Red Bull reportedly raised the issue with the governing body, which led to this week’s TD.

Ferrari and Mercedes were among the teams alleged to have been exploiting the ‘satellite skids’, although Vasseur made it a point of insisting that its car’s plank was legal.

“Yes, we had to make a change, but we had also the confirmation before this that the plank was legal, from the FIA,” said the Scuderia boss.

“I think it was the right attitude for us not to fight that because I want to stay focused on the championship and not on this kind of discussion. But the approach was strange.”

Ferrari’s Senior Performance Engineer Jock Clear said that “fundamentally, the TD effectively acts as a regulation.

“We all know they’re sort of bolt-ons to a regulation, so for us, we just read the TD and respond to it,” he said.

“From what I’ve understood, it’s not been a big drama to deal with whatever we’ve had to deal with.”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff also revealed that the Brackley squad “had to change the way we run the floor as well”.

In addition to Ferrari, the TD has also impacted Alpine and Visa Cash App RB, and even Red Bull who brought the issue to the attention of the FIA.

Over at McLaren, Zak Brown said the championship leader had not made any changes to its car based on the governing body’s TD.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and X

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Formula 1 and teams lock in future with new Concorde Deal

Formula 1’s future has been set in stone, with the announcement that all 11 teams…

9 hours ago

Frustrated FIA implements stricter rear wing tests for Chinese GP

In the wake of mounting frustration over F1 teams pushing the boundaries of aerodynamic regulations,…

11 hours ago

Red faces at Ferrari: Vasseur admits to botched strategy call

Ferrari endured in Melbourne a challenging start to its 2025 F1 campaign, with team principal…

12 hours ago

A picture-perfect St. Patrick's Day!

Bring out your green, for it's St. Patrick's Day, which is all the excuse we…

14 hours ago

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2025 Australian GP

Isack Hadjar, Racing Bulls (Did Not Start): 3/10 Hadjar failed to even get through the…

15 hours ago

Doohan expects more home GPs, despite media speculation

Jack Doohan, despite intense media scrutiny and a crash at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix,…

16 hours ago