Ferrari irked by “strange” new floor ruling but chose “not to fight it”
Ferrari frustrated with FIA technical directive which has forced team to alter their floor.
Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur has expressed frustration at a new FIA technical directive which was issued on the eve of the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Ahead of this weekend’s race, F1’s governing body the FIA issued a new technical directive clarifying the way in which skid blocks can be attached to the floor of cars in a bid to prevent teams from potentially exploiting a grey are in the regulations.
The clarification was expected to come for 2025 but it is understood that Red Bull pushed for changes sooner to tackle potential ambiguity which existed in the previous technical directive.
Ferrari boss Vasseur confirmed his team have had to make modifications to the floor of their car, but stressed the FIA had determined their plank to be legal.
“Yes, we had to make a change, but we had also the confirmation before this that the plank was legal, from the FIA,” Vasseur said.
“I think it was the right attitude for us not to fight because that I want to stay focused on the on the championship and not on this kind of discussion. But the approach was strange.”
Mercedes and Alpine also confirmed they have tweaked the configuration of their cars in response to the technical directive.
Alpine team principal Oliver Oakes admitted his side have “had to make a little change”, while Toto Wolff said Mercedes “had to change the way we run the floor as well”.
Red Bull have also been impacted by the ruling despite supporting the changes.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown confirmed to Sky Sports F1 that the TD had not impacted his team.
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