The FIA has launched a new technical directive for this weekend’s race in Singapore, and Max Verstappen has indicated how he thinks it will affect Red Bull.
A big change for this weekend in Singapore is the introduction of TD018, a technical directive introduced by the FIA as a way of enforcing a rule that has been clarified but is not yet part of the technical regulations: the TD is more of a consultation rather than a definitive rule, but provides clarity to teams on what they should do.
TD018 focuses on the flexibility of the front and rear wing components, i.e. the ability for teams to exploit flexibility in the areas where individual elements come together.
How could Red Bull be affected by the technical directive?
As F1’s dominant team, with the Adrian Newey-penned Red Bull RB19 taking every single win so far in 2023, there is the obvious question of whether or not Red Bull may find themselves hampered by the need to make changes to their car .
There has been no indication that any particular team has been singled out for its interpretation of the regulations, and Max Verstappen has ruled out the possibility that TD018 could have any effect on Red Bull’s competitiveness.
“I don’t think he will. We never had a flexible front wing or anything. So I don’t think it will hurt us,” he told the media in Singapore on Thursday.
But Verstappen also suggested this weekend may not see Red Bull’s usual dominance. Having already made it known in Monza that he expects the Singapore weekend to be a tougher event for his team, the reigning World Champion explained why.
“I think we’re just not as competitive as at other tracks,” he said.
“I think street circuits are a little more difficult for our car. I still think we can do a good job, but it will be very close.”
Entering the weekend with a record 10 consecutive Grands Prix under his belt, the Dutch driver said achieving the historic feat changes nothing in terms of the pressure on him ahead of the weekend.
“I never really look at the number eight or nine,” he said.
“I just always want to do the best I can. So, of course, every single weekend, it’s basically the same amount of pressure that you put on yourself to try to get the best result. So nothing really changes on that side.
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Without any particular accusations from the teams as to who might have broken the new directive had they not had time to resolve the issue before Singapore, FIA single-seater technical director Tim Goss explained the rationale behind issuing the directive.
“It’s not that we saw one particular car or one feature that we targeted, or one common element across the entire grid,” he said.
“This is where the front and rear wing elements join the nose, join the rear impact structure, join the rear wing endplates. There were several cases where teams tried to make the most of the deviation margin by allowing some pieces to start moving relative to each other.
“If you allow one part to be decoupled from another, the body may need to have some degree of local flexibility in that location.
«And if there is local flexibility, let’s say clearly, this does not conform to being uniform, solid, hard and continuous. In the TD we have included various examples, projects that we believe are not permitted and exceptions that we believe are permitted.”
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Max Verstappen’s article on the possible effect of TD018 on Red Bull appeared first on Planetf1.com.