Sometimes any secondary purpose is banned or restricted. Designers always try to find secondary, useful purpose for device in question. Any part on the car is made for some primary purpose. This brings up the designers favorite interpretation in the rule book, “Primary and Secondary Purpose”.
#MERCEDES F1 2012 DRIVER#
Mercedes argue that the “W-Duct” system is automatic and the driver does not control it therefore they consider it legal.Įither way, the grey areas in terms of legality are whether it is considered to be passive in its operation – legal, or driver operated - not legal, and whether it is acceptable for the driver-operated DRS mechanism to have such a secondary function.Īnd this secondary function is an interesting thing. Whiting feels that as the team are reducing drag - albeit elsewhere on the car than was originally intended by the DRS system - it should be allowed. In simple terms, the system cannot work unless the driver hits the DRS button therefore it is driver controlled. The contrary argument is that this is an illegal secondary system that is activated by the driver when he uses the DRS. His view is that the driver can affect the aerodynamics as long as it is only for the operation of the DRS - and the Mercedes system is part of the DRS. The argument has become particularly contentious because Mercedes have raised their competitiveness after two difficult seasons and are now contenders at the front.Īfter Melbourne race protest, FIA has allowed the system because race director Charlie Whiting felt that it was simply an extension of the DRS and that it was impossible to draw a line saying it was not allowed. The system operates in conjunction with the DRS (drag reductio system) overtaking aid, which most teams understood to be limited to operation on the rear wing.
#MERCEDES F1 2012 DRIVERS#
Some teams, read Lotus and Red Bull, protested the system as illegal and against the spirit of the rules regulating movable aerodynamic surfaces and a rule that prohibits drivers altering aerodynamics. This uses the opening of the DRS flap on the rear wing to open a duct that sends high pressure air to other parts of the car, specifically to the front wing underside. System is basically DRS-operated speed boost system. It is not anymore completely passive, and system is activated by and linked to DRS. Unlike the driver-operated rear wing F-duct, which was banned for 2011, Mercedes’ system was entirely passive and requires no moving parts or driver interaction, and it was therefore legal.įor the first race of 2012 season Mercedes improved their system. ‘W-duct’ name actually describing air flow from nose tip hole, normally used for driver cooling, trough both wing pylons and is dispersed in a W-like pattern across the underside length of the front wing. The Finnish broadcaster MTV3, describing the system as ‘W-duct’, has provided some detail as to how it works. But it proved difficult to set up, and with the nose cone vent now only allowed to be used for driver cooling, they had to find a different way to get the airflow to the front wing. In Japan last year the team tested their new secret weapon aimed for next season, a passive system that fed air through the nose cone vent and down the two wing pillars to the front-wing flap. This time Mercedes AMG produced a novel, somebody call it front 'F-duct' and somebody “W-duct”, but "officially" is DDRS system, utilizing the DRS activation mechanism on the Mercedes W03 and designed to give the car a straight line speed and braking advantage, and it was causing controversy at the season-opening Australian GP. It wouldn’t be the start of a Formula One season without some controversy over a new clever bit of technology designed to make cars go faster. Front "F-duct" and somebody call it “W-duct"
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