Mercedes W11

[LM10]

The tyres clearly move when he pushes and pulls the steering wheel. Even if that's not doing adjustments to suspension system, it surely is actively influencing aero. Both cases would be illegal.

[Morteza]

This appears when he pulls the steering wheel

Via @Danny10_DotCom

[Gilles27Kimi7]

[Predator]

It looks like the wheels toe-in as the steering wheel is pulled back then toe-out / back to neutral as it's pushed forward.

[Sawtooth-spike]

The tyres clearly move when he pushes and pulls the steering wheel. Even if that's not doing adjustments to suspension system, it surely is actively influencing aero. Both cases would be illegal.

Bet there argument will be that the wheel already does adjust the aero when you turn the wheels, so they are just adding a new element

Its a good idea that its pulling back to engage, that way it returns to the normal state as the drive brakes

[Formula Wrong]

Could they maybe argue that it is not changing the suspension but "steering" the front wheels individually?

Good question, though usually "steering" involves turning both front wheel into the same direction. Other teams will surely protest this.
It's a genius invention for sure, but I'm wondering if, in case this somehow IS legal, next year's rules can be adjusted still?

[izzy]

From the regs.

10.2.3 No adjustment may be made to any suspension system while the car is in motion.

Not sure how this is legal.

By that same token, Mercedes had to know this would be spotted, so I’m guessing that they have an argument that it very much is.

yes, i mean what is an "adjustment" exactly? It could be argued that an adjustment is something that stays adjusted, as opposed to something that moves dynamically like all the suspension. The steering wheel is supposed to move parts of the suspension, after all!

[Mark4211]

This appears when he pulls the steering wheel
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/ERNd8vzU8AIk2je.png:large
Via @Danny10_DotCom

He's pressing the 'MARK' button, can be seen with his right thumb. This sets a remark in the Telemetry when reviewing

[LM10]

The tyres clearly move when he pushes and pulls the steering wheel. Even if that's not doing adjustments to suspension system, it surely is actively influencing aero. Both cases would be illegal.

Bet there argument will be that the wheel already does adjust the aero when you turn the wheels, so they are just adding a new element

Its a good idea that its pulling back to engage, that way it returns to the normal state as the drive brakes

Turning the wheels is a must on every car on earth, if you don't want to crash into an object at some point. Pulling and pushing the steering wheel is known for airplanes, but surely not cars and I don't see how that could be legal as there must be adjustments to the suspension system in order to do that movement to the tyres, which, as already pointed out, is illegal under movement.

[izzy]

i wonder if the purpose is to lower the front on corner entry, more than change the toe-in which is just a side effect. That was the original idea of the offset track rods wasn't it, then FIA limited it to 5mm

[Sawtooth-spike]

The tyres clearly move when he pushes and pulls the steering wheel. Even if that's not doing adjustments to suspension system, it surely is actively influencing aero. Both cases would be illegal.

Bet there argument will be that the wheel already does adjust the aero when you turn the wheels, so they are just adding a new element

Its a good idea that its pulling back to engage, that way it returns to the normal state as the drive brakes

Turning the wheels is a must on every car on earth, if you don't want to crash into an object at some point. Pulling and pushing the steering wheel is known for airplanes, but surely not cars and I don't see how that could be legal as there must be adjustments to the suspension system in order to do that movement to the tyres, which, as already pointed out, is illegal under movement.

They would not be doing it unless they had some kind of arguement why they believe it's legal. As I said they will base this on the wheel already adjusting aero / suspension of the car.

I am sure it will be protested and we will get to hear there interpretation of the rules and why they think it's legal.

[drunkf1fan]

It's pretty funny watching Will and the other guy absolutely missing the tires move and not getting why it's exciting so far.

It's a very big change if it's legal, might not make a massive difference but maybe enough difference. Scarbs has noticed it and thinks the rules may not in fact cover this particular setup.

[djones]

This would have taken a lot of development.

There is no way Mercedes would have invested the time and money on something that would be observed so easily unless they were at least 90% confident it was legal.

With the fancy rear suspension, this is pretty impressive from the team even if it's banned.

[zac510]

It's possible they are doing this knowing it is illegal and with no intention to race it; by adjusting the suspension on the fly, they can save time compared to coming into the pits, adjusting the suspension and going back out again. Once they've collected the data of both variations, the engineers can work out which setting is preferred.

However I don't think that's what they're doing here because I'd expect Lewis to do a series of laps with the steering wheel in forward or back setting.

[Juzh]

Scarbs is pretty sure purpose is to improve straight line speed by reducing scrub, as already pointed out by some people here.


He also thinks it's probably legal due to it being a steering related trick, not a suspension one.