A number of the smaller teams are ready to protest any car running the soon-to-be banned FRIC (front and rear inter-connected) suspension system.
It’s believed the leading outfits of Red Bull, Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Williams have all agreed not to pursue a protest.
They are however having difficulty persuading some of the smaller teams – which have less complex FRIC systems and therefore more to gain from a ban – to do the same.
Should unanimous agreement not be reached, the FIA will impose an immediate ban on the system which could see the results of the German Grand Prix voided if just one team continues to run FRIC.
If they all agree – something which is deemed unlikely – then the ban will be delayed until the start of 2015.
A number of teams are already preparing for the ban to come in to force next weekend and, as a result, ran without it during the second day of the in-season Silverstone test earlier this week.
It’s unlikely a ban will see a change in competitive order, but it could bring the pack closer together, particularly cutting Mercedes’ advantage as they’re believed to be running the most complex and beneficial version.
Sebastian Vettel reckons that could be the case: “Obviously we know what we are running,” he told the official F1 website. “We don’t know what they are running, but it is pretty clear what the FIA have said, so some teams will probably be more affected, others less.”
