"Very, very difficult now" to add DAS to Red Bull - Horner

DAS

"Very, very difficult now" to add DAS to Red Bull - Horner

Mercedes' system has been deemed legal for this year by the FIA

Ian Parkes

Saturday 4 July 2020 12:44

Christian Horner claims it will now be "very, very difficult" to introduce DAS to the Red Bull after the device was deemed legal in Formula 1 this season.

Red Bull launched a protest of the Mercedes system shortly after the second practice session on Friday ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix at the Red Bull Ring, believing it contravened the technical regulations.

But following a lengthy hearing, it was determined there were no grounds for the protest, and that the system can run on the W11 this season prior to it being outlawed for next year after the FIA closed a loophole in the rules.

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Explaining the reasoning behind the protest, speaking on Sky Sports F1, Horner said: "We wanted to get clarity, so we wanted to protest at the earliest point in the weekend, so as not to interrupt with the result.

"It was either going to be legal or illegal on Friday which would then give the chance for Mercedes to rectify that either way.

'So having seen that on the car yesterday we chose to use the avenue of a protest to achieve that clarity, and we informed Mercedes of that prior to putting in the protest.

"Basically, the system is very complicated, and it draws into question 'What is a steering wheel for?', so the stewards obviously backed the decision of Nikolas Tombazis, the technical delegate, and so we have that clarity now.

"We know it is legal, and if we want one we will have to design our own and incorporate it.

"That's sometimes the ambiguity these regulations create. It's something that has been tidied up for next year.

"The engineering feedback we had was that it wasn't fully compliant with the regs for this year, and that's why we questioned it and got the clarity late last night. It's book closed now."

But Horner concedes that will not be easy, adding: "Look, hats off to Mercedes, it is a very clever system, but to incorporate that this year before it gets outlawed next year will be very, very difficult now."

The suggestion is DAS allows the drivers to make set-up adjustments, although such changes cannot be made during a qualifying session as the car is under parc fermé conditions

Put to Horner, he said: "If they use it in qualifying then we may well ask to make a change in parc ferme conditions because if that is now permitted then obviously you'll request to make a change with a steering wheel rather than a set of spanners to your camber, or whatever it controls."

Before you go...

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