Mercedes’ star Lewis Hamilton endured a torturous season in 2023 as he went winless for a second consecutive year. The core struggle arose from the car W14, as its concept, design, and aerodynamics were flawed. However, besides being sabotaged by his own team, the British driver was also a victim of FIA, the sports governing body’s non-uniform compliance check.
During the Austin Grand Prix held earlier this year, Lewis Hamilton registered his best performance of the 2023 season. While he finished P2, the Mercedes ace almost closed down the gap to Max Verstappen. However, his car failed the post-race random compliance check, which led to a disqualification. After backlash, FIA has decided to revise the laws by 2026.
FIA To Simply Underfloor Plank Regulations That Led To Lewis Hamilton’s Disqualification!
As the F1 landscape continues to evolve, FIA has announced plans to streamline the underfloor plank regulations in the sport by the year 2026. The decision comes as part of ongoing efforts to enhance safety, improve competition, and simplify technical regulations within the pinnacle of motorsport. The underfloor plank, a critical component of an F1 car’s aerodynamics, plays a key role in regulating the aerodynamic performance and ensuring the safety and fairness of the competition. However, in Austin, multiple cars were found in violation of the law. Apparently, FIA allows the team to keep the ride height of the car to a limited extent. However, the Circuit of the Americas’ surface and limited practice time led to excessive plank wear.
Thus, Mercedes and Ferrari kept the car high, which was caught by the FIA during post-race regulation. Subsequently, Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc faced disqualification. However, Hamilton later claimed that many teams remained in violation yet escaped due to a lack of uniformity in compliance checks. Thus, in the aftermath of the disqualification incident, FIA has decided to simplify the regulation by 2026. Nikolas Tombazis, Director of the Single Seater Department of the FIA, said that the modern-day F1 cards are too low because the inherent characteristic of a ground-effect car tends to have more performance while running low. Regardless, FIA will come up with more uniform skid regulations by 2026. “We believe we’re going to simplify very much that area that we couldn’t simplify as much as we would have liked for the current regulations,” said Tombazis.
F1 Likely Revise DRS To Complicate Overtaking!
In 2026, F1 will undergo massive changes. While the team will come up with fresh power units and other new components, F1 will introduce regulations changes. Amid speculations over the nature of those regulation changes, FIA’s Nikolas Tombazis hinted at potential change in the DRS system with a view to complicate overtaking.
Nikolas added that he wants the DRS to help the driver only close the gap to the opponent. The overtaking should be done by the driver using his own talent and skills. “We want the cars to get close to each other to the braking point. And for there to be a fight and for the drivers to have to use their talent,” said Tombazis.
