Lotus F1 team ready protest against Mercedes’ F-duct in 2012 Chinese Grand Prix – Formula 1 news
Lotus F1 team have officially protested against controversial Mercedes’ F-duct design in 2012 Chinese Grand Prix which is to be held at Shanghai International Circuit this weekend.
Lotus have launched their protest against the DRS-activated F-duct device of the Brackley-based team on Thursday.
Mercedes have been facing huge criticism over the legitimacy of its novel F-duct device which gives a competitive edge to the driver during the race by boosting up the top pace of the car.
Moreover, Michael Schumacher of Mercedes performed extremely well during the qualifying of the opening two races held at Albert Park in Melbourne and Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia.
However, the veteran German driver could not convert his competitive grid positions into a podium finish in either of the first two races.
It will be important to mention that the team principal of Lotus, Eric Boullier threatened to protest against the results of the qualifying of the season opener over the legality of Mercedes’ car design. Nevertheless, Charlie Whiting, F1 race director called
it to be legal.
Furthermore, Red Bull Racing team principal, Christian Horner has been keep on posing questions regarding the compliance of Mercedes styled F-duct with FIA’s rules and regulations. He also asked the governing body of FIA to give the necessary clarifications
on that matter. In addition, he is expecting that Whiting will take it into consideration ahead of Chinese GP.
Conversely, Ross Brawn, the team principal of Mercedes expressed that they are facing contradictory remarks about their innovative design just because it is difficult to integrate into the existing cars.
Besides, Norbert Haug, the president of Mercedes sport said that their F-duct system has been declared as legitimate by FIA.
“It is well known that Charlie Whiting has said our system is legal. We voluntarily showed it to the FIA before the season started and got their formal go-ahead,” answered the German.
Moreover, it has also been reported that the defending champions, Red Bull are working on a similar design which they may introduce in the season ahead.
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