Mercedes avoids protest with adjustment to floor

Mercedes has decided during the second day of the Canadian Grand Prix to remove the second metal support attached to the floor, Motorsport.com reports. In doing so, it wants to avoid a protest from other teams.

The FIA came out on Thursday with the news that new guidelines would be in place to combat porpoising. Where this came as a big surprise to many Formula 1 teams, it turned out that Mercedes was able to move at lightning speed and deliver a floor with a second metal support.

It caused a lot of surprise among other racing teams who found it remarkable that Mercedes was able to find such a solution at lightning speed. At the same time, they doubted that it would fall within the regulations of the FIA, so they threatened to lodge a protest with the race commission.

The German racing team preferred not to take the risk of incurring a penalty and therefore opted to remove the part from the floor. The team explained that the removal of the second metal support had to do with a failed floor experiment.

Toto Wolff revealed this weekend that he has doubts about how the FIA will enforce the new guidelines. Although the team boss sees that the organization is working hard to make the sport safer, he does not think that the FIA will choose to disqualify teams when they do not meet the guidelines.