Formula 1 teams have reportedly been given a new technical directive ahead of Las Vegas after Red Bull “stressed” that its rivals were applying “special protection” to their pads and bindings.

Formula 1 has set regulations for car skid pads, the board underneath the car that extends from front to rear and protects the floor from bumps and curbs.

FIA reportedly releases new TD after discovery of ‘special protection trick’

The thickness is set at 10 mm thick, with a tolerance of +/- 0.2 mm while the minimum thickness due to wear is 9 mm.

Last season, both Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were disqualified from the United States Grand Prix when their skates suffered excessive wear.

But the teams being determined to make the cars roll as close to the ground, thus opening the door to the pad and the screws which are used to absorb the blows, Auto, Motor and Sport claims that some teams used tricks to protect the fixing screws.

In isolating the block and screws, AMus reports that the final “trick” used is to place a “special protection” that applies in particular to the “fixing screw in the rear area of ​​the base plate.”

This allows teams to lower the car’s ride height to gain more downforce while avoiding making mistakes in FIA measurement tests.

The report adds that “50 percent” of players operate in the gray zone.

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The loophole has now been closed after Red Bull “pointed out to the FIA ​​that the trick was illegal”, prompting motorsport’s governing body to issue a new technical directive ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Sending a letter to all teams, the FIA ​​announced that the “protective pads in question were not authorized”. This assessment applies with immediate effect.

One team reportedly wanted the FIA ​​to delay the TD, which would be Ferrari, because raising the ride height of cars to protect skids and crews could cost teams lap time.

This isn’t the first technical issue the FIA ​​has had to sort out this season, with motorsport’s governing body involved in flex wings, holes in brake drums and also McLaren’s mini DRS to name a few. just a few.

McLaren will line up in Las Vegas with a 36-point lead in the constructors’ championship over Ferrari and Red Bull with a further 14 points behind.

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