Two and a half hours before the start of the final free practice session at Formula 1’s Australian Grand Prix, teams were informed about what would effectively be a modification of the circuit.
The FIA deemed it necessary for safety reasons to remove straight mode 4 – the zone between Turns 8 and 9.
The initial intervention came after the drivers’ briefing on Friday evening, during which some drivers had indicated that it would be dangerous to take that zone – including multiple kinks – flat-out with the front and rear wings open. According to Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s single-seater director, seven of the 11 teams would have a downforce problem to varying degrees, but judging by the political unrest that followed the matter turned out to be more nuanced than that.
Several teams pushed back against the FIA intervention on safety grounds, after which the measure was eventually reversed less than an hour before the start of FP3.
“We had a meeting yesterday with the drivers and some expressed a concern that the downforce in that area was a bit too low, especially if they were fighting for position with other cars and they felt they could risk losing control of the car in such conditions,” the FIA’s single-seater director explained before the decision was reversed.
Audi was one of the teams pushing for change, although Tombazis emphasised the bigger picture went beyond the request of just one team.
“I think it’s about seven of the 11 teams, so for a big proportion the downforce they had on the front wheels following our three parameters was less than we had anticipated and made what looked like a safe choice transpire to be unsafe.”
