FIA CHANCE F1 RULES AT LAS VEGAS GRAND PRIX TO CLOSE MERCEDES AND FERRARI LOOPHOLE

Toto Wolff and Mercedes have been affected by an FIA directive (Image: Getty)

The FIA has reportedly imposed a technical directive outlawing the use of protective plates over skid blocks ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The ban, which will affect Mercedes, Ferrari and Haas, was initiated after a Red Bull complaint.

The skid blocks are situated under the body of the car, but when drivers run over abrasive curbs during Grands Prix, they can be slowly worn down - particularly if the team in question runs their car lower to the ground, which is often synonymous with generating higher downforce.

At the United States Grand Prix in 2023, Mercedes and Ferrari experienced the worst possible consequences of this. Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc were both disqualified after finishing on the podium after a post-race inspection revealed that the planks on their underbodies had been whittled down below the FIA’s legal limit.

In an effort to avoid this, an Auto Motor und Sport report reveals that, following a complaint from Red Bull, roughly half of the grid was discovered to be in breach of the regulations regarding skid block protection.

In response, the FIA sent teams a technical directive ahead of the Las Vegas GP outlawing their usage. This will be bad news for Mercedes and Ferrari, who could have to raise the ride height of their cars to comply with the regulations, bleeding lap time in the process.

McLaren and Red Bull were not on the list of teams affected by the technical directive, although Lando Norris will need a bigger boost if he is to turn around his championship fight with Max Verstappen. The gap between the pair stands at 62 points with three rounds remaining.

"It was a defining moment for the championship,” he confessed in Las Vegas. “The door is almost shut. I was pretty down for a week after Brazil because there was the realisation that things are out of my control and not within reach and that was a tough moment.

"When your hopes and beliefs are so high, and then for them to get knocked down, that was pretty demoralising and not the best of feelings but you learn to accept that is life. I can survive, I can put up a fight, and that is what I will do.

“But at some point you know it is not going to go your way. You never know. I am not saying it is over and I wouldn’t until it is, but it is very far out of reach. I need a lot of luck. I have to win three races, and hope Max fails to finish in those three races."

- HARRY SMITH