The Formula 1 World Championship has long been decided, it only remains to be seen in which race Max Verstappen will be crowned three-time champion and where he will leave the records, individual (10 victories in a row) and collective (14 in a row).
But the runner-up position is not decided, not all the victories, podiums or which team emerges as second or third at the end of the World Championship, with a lot of money at stake.
And in this scenario, the double technical directive sent by the FIA’s new technical chief since January, Tim Goss (FIA) to the teams before the Monza meeting for the Singapore meeting this Sunday, has a lot of depth and can alter the established order on the grid in the middle zone, already very altered in itself.
That is to say, the balance of power between Mercedes, Ferrari, Aston Martin, McLaren and even Alpine. Because it doesn’t seem that if it affects Red Bull it will mean losing a second per lap, which is often their advantage in the races.
They are the TD19 and TD38, veterans, but always revised as the season progresses and the teams are working on their substance.
New regulations in F1
Now Goss has revised them and both clarify what is now allowed in terms of vertical, longitudinal, lateral and rotational movement of the wing airfoils relative to the point on the chassis to which they are attached.
More than how much the front and rear wings move, which have to move and which is tolerated, is how they interact with other parts of the car.
No longer may elastic fillers or flexible materials be used and connected to adjacent parts of the wings that can deform at speed and alter their shape to gain aerodynamic advantage. There should also be no gaps, cuts, damage or cracks at certain points.
The FIA has asked the teams for the drawings of the fixings and movements, design and function of all these parts, which will be particularly scrutinised at the Marina Bay circuit, so that from Thursday some cars will already be different to their Monza version and even the now outdated ‘porpoising’, or bouncing at high speed, may reappear.
Of course, the technical stewards are going to have their work cut out in the sweltering heat of the populous Asian city, adding video footage and tightening up the current static tests, which have become somewhat outdated.
