F1

Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn says the “extreme” Mercedes sidepod solution unveiled at the Bahrain test was not anticipated when the 2022 ...

“It's impossible to anticipate the creative scope of the teams. “So some of the solutions quite honestly, we never anticipated. So I'm sure there's going to be a lot of discussion about it. And however hard you try to close off all the options, and believe me, we closed off hundreds of them, as I say the innovation in F1, it's always extreme. From the teams’ perspective, they want to be sure that no one's taken an interpretation that they don't feel is correct. “And I think inevitably, there's going be a lot of debate about their interpretation.

The F1 managing director has discussed the Silver Arrows' new innovation, which was unveiled on Day 1 of testing in Bahrain.

With 80 per team majority, if something has slipped by, that could happen during the season.” Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Spirit is a grey area.

McLaren and Haas have both debuted tweaked Formula 1 car liveries on the opening day of the second pre-season test in Bahrain.

While retaining some of the elements of the previous livery, the design reverts to the white, red and black colours that were used by Haas in its first few years on the grid. A first step by Haas was taken on the final day of the opening pre-season test in Barcelona when it removed all Uralkali branding from the car. The tweaks have been made after McLaren reviewed how the car looked on-track during its first official running in the opening pre-season test in Barcelona last month.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has no fears about his team's sidepod design becoming the subject of a legality dispute in Formula 1.

We were keen in not running alone with that, but being in touch with the FIA, that's why I think it will be okay." "That's why that was expected. "My opinion is that I would have preferred to stay with the old system, and if a team comes up with an innovation, possibly you can't take it off the car if it's compliant with the regulations.

Mercedes principal Toto Wolff denied his team's new F1 car had sidepods that flouted regulations.

Brawn said the Mercedes approach, which he described as “extreme”, had not been expected and noted that even if the car is within the regulations such innovations could now be banned mid-season should eight of the 10 teams (known as a “supermajority”) agree. “That doesn’t correspond to the spirit of the regulations. “We were keen in not running alone, but being in touch with the FIA, that is why I think it will be OK. It is clear that when you come with an innovation it creates the kind of debate that we are having here.

Charles Leclerc set the fastest time on the opening morning of the second test in Bahrain as Ferrari continued its strong preseason form.

At one stage, Hamilton's car was trailed by showers of sparks on the pit straight and he struggled to get the W13 slowed down in the braking zones at Turn 1 and Turn 10. However, ESPN understands Haas will get four hours of running back as the freight delay was a result of a delay from one of Formula One's cargo planes. Despite the radical design, Lewis Hamilton seemed to struggle for much of the morning with the car porpoising on the straights. Haas was the only team that did not take part in the morning session. It also features two sets of louvres cut into each sidepod to help with cooling. Porpoising was a problem for all teams at the opening test in Barcelona and results in the car bouncing up and down on its suspension at high speed due to the intermittent stalling of the car's underfloor aerodynamics.

Kevin Magnussen spoke about his reaction to learning he would return to Formula 1, and why he said 'yes' to Haas Team Principal Guenther Steiner as soon as ...

I don’t know, I ran out of motivation to be running around the back. F1 TV Pro subscribers can watch Bahrain pre-season testing live and on demand, access exclusive live timing, as well as Tech Talk debriefs. “When Guenther called me, I said ‘yes’ immediately.