The Mercedes diffuser recently received an update that is said to better guide airflow and generate more downforce. Ferrari has asked the FIA for clarification on whether this change complies with the regulations. GPblog understands that the FIA has acknowledged the request and will soon issue a clarification of the rules.
This does not necessarily mean that the diffuser is immediately illegal. If it is, there is a chance it will be banned. If not, other teams are free to apply this concept to their car.
Mercedes bringing updates in Austria
Team principal Toto Wolff stated that the updates are mainly intended to improve Mercedes’ reliability. “Our Achilles heel so far has been reliability. We have lost a large amount of points across both cars in recent races; if we don’t put together clean weekends, our competitors will happily take advantage.
“We are not standing still in our efforts; we will bring a few updates to Austria this weekend with a focus on improving both performance and reliability. The margins are tight, and will be even tighter around Spielberg given the length of the lap. We need to put together a better weekend than we have in recent races but if we can deliver to our maximum, then we know we can challenge for victory,” Wolff said.