FIA ban reactive ride after declaring it legal

So the FIA has banned the new reactive ride height technology pioneered by Lotus and being worked upon by Ferrari and perhaps Mercedes.

Despite it being declared legal, the FIA have now decided it is illegal, that it is a moveable aerodynamic device because it effects the movement of the chassis although as Autosport reports the Lotus system was mechanical and part of the suspension, so couldn’t be classed as a moveable aerodynamic device.

What it basically did was control the ride height under braking, keeping the car stable and the front of the car closer to the ground thus effecting aerodynamic performance.

To me it seems a shame to have banned it so early, I for one would have liked to have seen it out on track as it had the potential to shake up the order a bit as the new season approaches.

Mercedes were rumoured to have delayed the introduction of their new car to be able to integrate this new device. And surely Lotus and Ferrari will be feeling pretty aggrieved, especially Lotus who have invested in it after being told it was legal.

But it appears that other teams have reacted to this and lobbied to get it banned. I do think this is detrimental to the sport, as whether you understand the technology or not, it’s nice to know that Formula 1 teams are innovating new tech to be raced.

For yet another new device to be banned (adding to the F-duct, double and blown diffusers) seems to me to be constraining creativity in a sport already full of constrictive regulations when it’s actually supposed to be the peak of motor sport where envelopes should be regularly ripped open or at least pushed.

Whether this new device should have been banned or not, there does appear to be too much restriction in the regulations. Maybe that just makes the designers work harder to refine and develop what they have.

However, in the past you came across all manner of weird and wonderful designs and constant new areas of innovation, such as six wheeled cars and fans sucking the car to the ground (although to be fair that was quickly banned). Obviously as things have become more refined it is logical those changes become less obvious to spot, especially when you get into the mystical world of aerodynamics.

I just think that with every new invention that may steal a march on the rest, that the FIA feel it should be banned to make sure the rest of the field won’t lag too far behind, but surely it’s up to the rest to develop it themselves. It would be nice to have less standardised formula and more Formula 1 innovation.

Although having said that, it’s probably more to do with money and not wanting teams to splash the cash so much in this troubled financial era. And there was nothing to say it would been successful immediately anyway, it may have taken time for the teams to work the reactive ride system, it may have been a complete flop, it would just have been nice to see if the teams which had it would shake the order up a bit and mount a challenge to Red Bull.

Talking of Red Bull, team boss Christian Horner didn’t seem overly concerned by it, saying the overall package is what counts, although you wonder if they’re feeling slightly relieved by it?

It’ll be interesting to see how much it’ll affect Lotus who had already tested it in Abu Dhabi at November’s young driver test although the BBC report that Lotus and Ferrari are not overly concerned. Perhaps it would have made for a spectacular come back for Kimi Raikkonen though, but now we’ll never know.