The FIA has abandoned the unsightly rain wheel cover solution aiming to mitigate spray from Formula 1 wet weather conditions.
Mercedes originally tested a solution last term at Silverstone with Ferrari running two more aggressive wheel guards at its Fiorano test circuit in the build-up to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The motorsport governing body has been investigating a solution to mitigate spray in wet races with the current generation of ground effect cars making following in wet conditions almost impossible.
However, despite Ferrari running a solution covering the majority of the tyres, the amount of spray generated by the rear diffuser has forced the FIA to abandon the wheel guard plan altogether.
“We always knew that there were two main contributing factors to the cloud of spray,” FIA Single Seater Director Nikolas Tombazis told Autosport.
“One was how much water is picked up from the ground from the diffuser, and the other one is from the wheels.
“What we thought we’d do is try to do a total wheel cover, even beyond what would be practical, to see what is the maximum we can possibly achieve with that – in order to see whether that is the solution or not.
“The previous wheel cover test [at Silverstone last year] was way, way too flimsy and too small. And therefore I don’t think it was ever going to work.
“So we went to the maximum just to see what was the best we could achieve from the wheel covers.
“And while they do have a bit of an effect, they don’t have a significant enough effect to say that that’s the solution. Therefore we are back to square one.”
Present at Ferrari’s wet-weather wheel cover test was its Reserve Driver Oliver Bearman.
Bearman was tasked with following fellow Ferrari prospect Arthur Leclerc at Fiorano, with water applied to the straight on the test to gauge the spray generated by a car sporting wheel covers.
However, like the FIA, Bearman observed the effects of the covers to be too weak.
“I think you saw the videos it was quite similar [to the previous test], so I think back to the drawing board,” Bearman told media at Imola.
“I think the issue is that these cars make so much downforce from the floor the air is energised from there and of course the spray follows the air.
“So visibility was really tough out there. It was slightly better you can tell the work has gone to something but not fixed.
“We did a few different configurations, I’d say 4 or 5 runs but we only wet the straight just to see if you could follow in the straight so 4 or 5 runs just trying different levels of openness because if it’s fully closed it’s also quite tough for the temperature of the tyres and the braking system.”
Tombazis has ruled out a solution blocking the diffuser to halt spray, given the implications in reducing the aerodynamic grip of the cars, but is hard at work coming up with a solution in the event extreme wet weather plays its part in a GP weekend.
“Ultimately, what we want to avoid is a Spa 2021 situation where a race gets cancelled, or severely shortened, or severely delayed,” he said.
“Clearly, it’s always going to be a compromise.
“The wheel covers themselves were quite ugly, but if they had done a significant contribution, then we would have been perfectly happy to install them once a year if that makes a difference between cancelling a race or not.
“It was never intended to be ‘every time it’s wet we put them on’. But unfortunately, we do need to try to think of other solutions.”
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