Mattia Binotto said that even if the FIA decides to make changes to the regulations for safety reasons, the decision must be approved by the World Motor Racing Council
The FIA's (International Automobile Federation) suggestion to allow the teams to introduce an extra support to increase the stability of the car's floor as early as the weekend in Canada was not well accepted on the grid. Ferrari even accused the body of violating the regulations with the technical directive, since the rules allow the use of only one support and therefore an approval from the World Motor Racing Council would be required for this.
After the Azerbaijan GP, the FIA decided to intervene in the porpoising that has been affecting the teams - especially Mercedes - since the pre-season, determining limits to the vertical oscillations of the cars on the track. As it still needs to study how this intervention will be done, it allowed the teams to use in Canada an extra support on the floor, as Mercedes did in free practice, but the update made by the Germans did not please the opponents, who threatened to protest. The team from Brackley therefore decided to remove the apparatus from the W13.
Mattia Binotto argued that technical guidelines should only be for clarification about the regulations, not for modifying them - like the extra floor support in this case. "For us, the technical guidelines are not applicable," the Ferrari boss said after Sunday's race. "It's something we mentioned to the FIA, and the reason for that is that a TD is there to clarify the regulation or police it in some way, not to change the regulation," he stressed.
"You can't change the regulations through a technical directive. That's governance," the Italian stressed.
The FIA could promote a change in the regulations without the approval of the teams for safety reasons, but it would still have to be ratified by the World Motor Racing Council. The next meeting of the body will be at the end of June, before the British GP, which means that the change could be valid already for the next round of the 2022 F1 World Championship.
"Even for safety reasons, what does the FIA have to do? First, consult the TAC [Technical Advisory Committee], change the regulations and go straight to the World Council for formal approval without needing approval from the teams for safety reasons. But you don't change regulations with a technical directive. So we sent to the FIA that, for us, this TD was not applicable," Binotto continued.
About porpoising, a problem that arose as a result of the return of the ground effect this season, Binotto agrees that it is an issue that needs to be carefully evaluated on behalf of the long-term health of the drivers, but believes that because it is still the first year under the new regulations, the phenomenon can be solved without FIA intervention.
" Porpoising is something we will have to face in the future and try to reduce it, and maybe technical changes are needed for that. But it hasn't been such a big problem so far. It is track-related. The cars will be developed further. It's a technical issue that needs to be discussed, and the question that remains open is how we will do that," Binotto concluded.