Ferrari gets Monaco makeover after FIA clampdown

Ferrari have broken cover on yet another new look for their car at the Monaco Grand Prix, after their halo-mounted rear-view mirrors were deemed to flout rules by the FIA. A winglet attached to the mirrors was seen to be an attempt at improving aerodynamic performance and has been removed.

Sebastian Vettel confirmed that the new positioning of the mirrors had helped him see better over the rear wing of his car, however rival teams were not happy to see the Scuderia attempt to gain an advantage.

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The FIA and F1 admitted that the wording of regulations saying mirrors could be mounted to the halo needed to be tightened up and permitted Ferrari to race in Barcelona with their new design.

However, it has been tweaked yet again for Monaco, with mirrors still mounted to the halo safety device, but the winglet has been removed.

The FIA's clarification on the rules read as follows:

"Whilst the FIA accepts that teams will legitimately design the mirrors, housings and mountings to minimise any negative aerodynamic effects they may cause, we believe that any aerodynamic benefits should be incidental, or at least minimal. In order to ensure this is the case all mountings must:

"a) Provide a meaningful structural contribution to the mounting system. If you use more than one mounting you may be asked to satisfy us, by way of a physical test, to demonstrate this.

"b) Be mounted to the lower and/or inboard surface(s) of the mirror housing.

"As the criteria for determining the eligibility of a mounting are to some extent subjective, the FIA would be available to discuss the legality of a new design before you introduce it in a race, to avoid wasting resource, time or money. For the sake of clarity, the various provisions made in TD/014-18 still apply for halo-mounted mirrors. The FIA expect to have full compliance with the present technical directive by the next race.

"The FIA do acknowledge that the rules currently in force with regard to mirrors are not perfect, and will strive to propose a more complete set of rules in terms of mirror position, mountings, visibility, etc. in the near future, with the aim to get a unanimous support for such changes for 2019."