McLaren waiting for FIA’s clarification regarding Mercedes’ F-duct ahead of Chinese GP – Formula 1
McLaren are waiting for FIA’s clarification regarding the F-duct design of Mercedes ahead of Chinese Grand Prix, which is going to be held at Shanghai International Circuit on April 15, 2012.
Paddy Lowe, the technical director of McLaren has said that they are not ready to commit their resources for an F-duct in F2012 to enhance its pace in the upcoming races unless they get the required explanation regarding the legality of Brackley based team’s
design.
Mercedes have been facing immense criticism on its DRS-activated F-duct design which boosts up the car’s top pace during the race and gives a competitive edge to the driver.
Moreover, Michael Schumacher of Mercedes has performed well during the qualifying of the opening two races of the season. However, he could not convert his competitive grid positions into a podium finish.
Eric Boullier, the team principal of Lotus threatened to protest against the qualifying result of the season opener over the legality of Mercedes’ F-duct device. Nevertheless, Charlie Whiting, F1 race director called it to be legal afterwards.
Besides, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, Christian Horner has been posing questions over the compliance of F-duct device of Mercedes with the rules and regulations of FIA and has asked the governing body to give the necessary explanation about the
matter. In addition, Horner expects that the governing body will take it into consideration before the Chinese GP.
On the other hand, it has been speculated that McLaren have been working on creating its own F-duct device to improve the performance of the car while Lowe said that he is waiting for the FIA’s decision.
“I think there are a number of points that are being debated behind the scenes,” he told the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes phone-in. “We don't have a strong view one way or the other. I think at this point what we really need to have is clarity. I would say,
actually, it would have been better if we had had clarity before now and we'll see what this event in China brings up in that sense. Until we've got clarity it's difficult for us to commit a huge amount of effort in that direction. So that's really where we're
stuck at the moment.”
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