FIA make sudden Australian GP change to combat 'unsafe' problem

The FIA has removed the fourth straight mode (SM) zone at Albert Park Circuit to alleviate concerns from drivers after the low-downforce configuration was deemed "unsafe" for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Following feedback in the drivers' briefing on Friday evening in Melbourne, the SM zone in the sweeping section of the track between Turns 8 and 9 has been taken out, cutting the number of SM zones from five to four.

Straight mode is when the front and rear wings go into a low-drag, low-downforce position to enable higher top speeds.

Explaining why the change has been made, FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis told media, including RacingNews365: "On most of the circuits, these [SM zones] are fairly straightforward; they are in genuine straight areas of the circuit.

"In three or four circuits in the year — one of which is Melbourne — unfortunately, they also include some zones which are fairly curved, as happens on the fourth straight mode zone here in Melbourne, between corners eight and nine.

"So we had a meeting with the drivers, and some expressed the concern that the downforce in that area was a bit too low, especially if they were fighting for position with other cars, and they felt they could risk losing control of the car in such conditions.

And as of course, safety is number one for us, we decided, following some analysis, to err on the side of caution and to remove the fourth straight mode zone for here, for Melbourne, starting from FP3, and, of course, for qualifying and the race."

Why it has been deemed 'unsafe'

Explaining the rationale for the late and immediate change, Tombazis added: "We are, for the first time, gaining detailed knowledge of the magnitude of downforce reduction some teams are experiencing on the straight mode activation.

"So this is new information for us, and for some of the cars, that is quite a big downforce reduction, more than we had perhaps envisaged.

"And the other thing to say is that this effect is not the same for all cars, but we couldn't just act on a few cars and say: 'Well, you need to change your setup' and not on others, because we wouldn't have a robust enough criterion — and it's short notice to do that.

"That's why we felt it had to be an action for all cars, not just for some cars, of course... 

"So, of course, that is reasonably significant as a change, because those teams have to adjust their setups of the cars, and have been running Friday in one condition, and they now need to make adjustments."

"I'm sure there will be some who are not happy about that, but we feel that, obviously, trying to put safety first, we think that's most responsible in the course of action for this weekend, and as we all learning and so on.

"And I think it's important to note that this was instigated from listening to the drivers who — some of them — expressed that concern in the drivers' meeting... And of course, we want to start this on the right foot, and hence the decision."

Tombazis outline the three parameters the FIA uses to determine where a straight mode zone should be located, and conceded that the now-removed allocation "transpired to be unsafe" for the majority of the cars.

"We have three parameters that are relevant," he explained. "One is the overall downforce of the cars, following many months of development. The second is what percentage of that downforce gets lost in straight mode.

"And the third parameter is what balance shift, so how much more is the front downforce reduction compared to the rear downforce.

"So we had assumptions for all of these three parameters. For about seven of the 11 teams, so for a big proportion, the downforce they had on the front wheels following those three parameters was less than we had anticipated and made what looked like a safe choice transpire to be unsafe."

He concluded by adding: "In the future, we think we can also have solutions which would de-power the straight mode a bit... force them to not go quite as extreme.

"But we felt it would be unrealistic to introduce something like that ad hoc on Saturday morning."