With Max Verstappen and Red Bull dominating the sport this season, Lewis Hamilton has given his thoughts on whether any rule changes should slow them down. A rule change was introduced after 2021 to slow down the Mercedes car.
Before the Italian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton was asked if the FIA should introduce a regulation change to slow Red Bull down.
“I don’t know what’s been proposed. I’ve not heard anything” Hamilton said ahead of last weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. “But we’ve experienced lots of changes, which were put in place to slow us down over the years and I think that it was better for the sport.
“If you look at 2021, for example, our qualifying pace was amazing… I think it’s 2021 or 2020, I can’t remember, but where they took away our qualifying mode, for example, brought us closer in qualifying. And on one side, the engineers just did an incredible job and they deserved that in merit, but I think from a racing fan we want to see all of us a lot closer.”
#F1: Lewis Hamilton: “We’ve experienced lots of changes, which were put in place to slow us [Mercedes] down over the years and I think that it was better for the sport.”
“If you look at 2021, for example, our qualifying pace was amazing… I think it’s 2021 or 2020 – but they…
— deni (@fiagirly) September 6, 2023
Before Red Bull started their domination, Mercedes dominated the sport from 2014 to 2020. During this time, a lot of regulation changes were introduced to try and slow them down. One of the most important ones came after the 2020 season when the FIA banned the Dual Axis Steering (DAS) system. This allowed Red Bull to close down the gap and challenge them for the Championship in 2021.
After the 2022 season, the FIA introduced yet another regulation change which left Mercedes far behind Red Bull. Since then they have been struggling to challenge Red Bull for the Championship. However, they have been slowly catching up to them this season. They could challenge for the Championship as soon as next season.
DAS: Mercedes’ smartest F1 invention yet?
Mercedes introduced the DAS system in 2020. During that year, the team was unbeatable. Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas won 13 out of the 17 races that were held that season. They also took pole position 15 times.
The DAS system allowed them to have a competitive pace on the straights and the corners. During pre-season testing, this DAS system caught the eyes of everyone in the paddock. It was first noticed when the Mercedes drivers were visibly pulling and pushing the steering wheel. When coming out of corners, the steering wheel was pulled and while going into the corners, it was pushed.
This system allowed the drivers to change the toe of the car while driving. The toe of the car refers to the angle of the front wheels. This allowed the drivers to change the angle of the wheels during straights to keep the tires warm and change them back before the corners for the best grip.
During the straights, they pulled the steering wheel which gave a positive toe (toe-in). A positive toe gave the car more stability during the straights. When the drivers pushed the steering wheel while approaching the corner, it gave a negative toe (toe-out) which made it easier for the car to attack corners.
Due to this, the W11 had great qualifying. This allowed them to get track position to further increase their lead. The 2020 season was one of their most successful season in Formula 1. The DAS system was so powerful that the FIA banned them after the 2020 season itself. It is by far, one of the greatest inventions in Formula 1.
