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Villeneuve critical of Mercedes: 'That's their problem, not the FIA'

Villeneuve critical of Mercedes: 'That's their problem, not the FIA'

20-06-2022 11:00 Last update: 14:46
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GPblog.com

Jacques Villeneuve is totally unimpressed with Toto Wolff and Mercedes. According to the Canadian, Mercedes is complaining about nothing and even gets its way, he suggests in his column Formule1.nl..

In Azerbaijan, Mercedes ran a real campaign. Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell only let out one sound the moment they stood in front of a camera: porpoising is dangerous. Mercedes believes that the FIA should change the rules, but the competition disagrees.

Problems for Mercedes

Mercedes suffers the most from porpoising, where other teams suffer much less. The W13 is simply not designed well enough for these rules and that is what Mercedes is trying to get out of. The fact that the FIA identified a new floor rod on Thursday as a possible tool and that Mercedes already had it ready to go, only caused more suspicion among the competition.

Villeneuve understands the irritation of the German racing team's competitors. Mercedes dominated Formula 1 for the past eight years and, according to the 1997 world champion, has done everything possible to maintain that advantage. ''Now they have built a bad car and that is their problem, not the FIA 's,'' Villeneuve argues.

Is the FIA making a mistake?

Nevertheless, the FIA responded with new ''technical directives'' that are said to be really enforced in Britain, but before that the FIA is sitting down with all the teams. Indeed, many teams do not agree. Indeed, Ferrari argued that the FIA has acted wrongly by using the 'technical directives' for a rule change.

Ultimately, the problem lies with Mercedes. The Germans have built a car that bounces too much and that can be solved by adjusting the car higher. Villeneuve doesn't understand the safety label Mercedes puts on it: " Nobody obliges Mercedes to tune their car this way", Villeneuve concludes.