'FIA investigation in US caused frustration and hilarity at Mercedes'

Red Bull Racing had the FIA investigate the rear axle of Mercedes' W12, but the international motorsport federation found nothing wrong with it. This caused mixed feelings for Mercedes, namely one of frustration and hilarity. According to the Brackley team, it was already clear that there was nothing illegal to be found.

That writes Auto, Motor und Sport. 'It caused frustration because such investigations take up time, cost and personnel. On the other hand, there was hilarity because Red Bull got it wrong once again,' the German medium writes.

Trick not new to Mercedes

According to Mercedes, Red Bull could have known that the rear end collapses on the straights. "We haven't touched the rear suspension since the beginning of 2020. It was one of the parts that stayed the same with us," says someone from the German team. Each team had two tokens to put in last winter in terms of development and Mercedes used them for other parts of the car.

However, Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas may only now be able to take full advantage of the find. At the start of the season, Mercedes struggled to find downforce at the rear and that meant giving up something at the front to keep the car balanced. Since the Silverstone update, the rear downforce has been improved, giving engineers more freedom in tuning.

Since a number of Grands Prix, the set-up can be played with more, which has led to the trick being used more optimally. It is important to note that the number of tenths that can be gained on the straight depends on the circuit. 'The more fast corners a track has, the less you can lower the rear end at high speeds. Otherwise, you would pay too high a price in the corners', says AMS.