An important FIA rule change may have blown the F1 title race wide open according to a prominent insider.
Lewis Hamilton closed to within 41 points of runaway leader Kimi AntonelliĀ with a brilliant victory at Sunday’s Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.
Hamilton was terrific all afternoon as he claimed his first victory in red, while Antonelli was a DNF after his previously dominantĀ MercedesĀ failed him in the closing stages.
It appeared to be the perfect afternoon forĀ FerrariĀ with the car’s qualifying speed (Hamilton claimed a front-row spot on Saturday) transferring to consistent race pace. The Scuderia also got it perfect from a strategic perspective and a nicely-timed virtual safety car just sealed the deal.
Former F1 team manager and now insider Peter Windsor believes there could be something else at play though, and it all comes back to an FIA rule change which came into play on June 1.
When this season began the phraseĀ engine compression ratioĀ was the biggest in the sport.
The new set of regulations saw the ratio reduced from 18:1 to 16:1, but within weeks we had several teams claiming that Mercedes may have found a way to skirt round that limit.
Previously, measurements were taken on cold, static engines, meaning that thermal expansion during a race could significantly boost the actual compression ratio.
Now though, following successful lobbying by Audi, Honda, and Ferrari, the sportās governing body has agreed to supplement the traditional cold engine test with one conducted at 130Ā°C. Although this change was initially slated for August, it was brought forward to June 1.
With power units not being the all-powerful factor in Monaco, Barcelona was the first time we really got a view on whether this rule change might impact the pecking order. Safe to say Windsor believes it may have.
Did rule change bring Mercedes back to the pack?
Speaking on his YouTube channel, he said: “At the front of the race George Russell had underplayed his cards I think. That was the moment in that first stint when he got the lead to pull out a lead. That’s what he needed to do, he was in free air, he’s got nothing to trouble him.
“He needed to have built up a lead over Lewis at that point, and he didn’t do that. He was sort of driving quick enough to be in front, to give himself a little bit of a margin, and then not going any quicker.”
“Now I wonder, maybe it’s unfair of me to say that, maybe George was going absolutely the quickest he could go.
“But if that’s the case, now is the time to say that probably this compression ratio thing has come into play and maybe the Mercedes engine now is not as strong as the Ferrari or some of the others as well.
“Maybe that’s what we were racing in the race for the first time is a proper square-up for the first time.”
Windsor, and the rest of the F1 paddock, will now be watching intently when the season moves on to Austria on June 28 to see if there is more evidence to support this argument.
“Maybe George was on the limit, we need to see a few more races really to make that call but for me George didn’t go quick enough in that first stint,” he admitted.
“And then you could start to smell that something was going to happen.”
ADUO could give Ferrari another boost
The signs for Mercedes are concerning right now with another important regulation coming into play imminently. That would be ADUO (Addition Development and Update Opportunities), which gives teams with weaker power units the chance to spend on in-season updates.
While Mercedes will get one update thanks to Red Bull being named as the best power unit so far, Ferrari will get two. More hope again for the Scuderia as they bid to close the gap in the championship standings.
