The future Aston Martin team will make good use of the gearbox and rear suspension of the Mercedes W11 from next year, as allowed by regulations – Music to the ears of Sebastian Vettel, who will be moving from Ferrari to the former Racing Point team next year.
They will use the current suspension and gearbox of the Mercedes W11 as of next year, as well as the gearbox, after the FIA has authorised it to do so despite complaints from rival teams.
Racing Point has been accused this season of copying last year’s Mercedes W10, leading rival teams to protest to the FIA. While the rules allow some parts to be copied or bought from a rival, other parts cannot, and the FIA fined Racing Point €400,000 and docked the team 15 points in the constructors’ championship after copying the rear brake lines of the 2019 Mercedes.
However, the suspension does not fall under these rules, so Racing Point will switch to the current configuration of the Mercedes W11 in its next car for the 2021 season.
IS 2020 RACING POINT JUST A MERCEDES CLONE?
“Yes, that’s still our plan for next year’s car. ” explained Andy Green, technical director of Racing Point, quoted by Motorsportweek.
“This is an upgrade to the 2020 suspension, it’s not an upgrade to 2021. The one we are currently using is the 2019 suspension.
“What they want to do is to penalise us and force us to use two-year-old bits and pieces rather than allow us to get into the habit of using last years parts,” he says.
“It’s not as if we get an advantage by bringing 2021 parts to the car. We’re just bringing it back to the same level they have now.
“The rules allow us to do that. The FIA allows it, so there’s no problem doing it.”
“The rules as they are written allow teams to bring their cars up to 2020 specifications, which I think is only fair.
“The mere fact that we chose to use the 2019 suspension prior to the start of COVID should not be held against us.
“We should therefore be allowed to bring our car to the same specifications than anyone else. ” says Green.
What is perhaps the best take from this news is for Sebastian Vettel fans. Vettel is sure to be far more competitive than he is currently at Ferrari, as the current car rules won’t change dramatically for next year and it’s expected that Ferrari will continue to struggle in the midfield as Leclerc confirmed yesterday in the German press. READ MORE ON THAT HERE
Then let Ferrari to bring back their 2019 engine to the show
I think that they’ve already been given permission to slowly turn the PU up again. This would explain the amazing improvement from Leclerc in the last couple of qualifying sessions.