Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel says his initial thoughts on the controversial Mercedes ‘DAS’ steering system are that it looks tricky to operate.
Mercedes caught the eye of the public on Thursday, when onboard television shots of Lewis Hamilton driving the W11 during testing showed that he was pulling his steering wheel towards him as he entered the circuit’s straights. Pushing the wheel back into its original position as he approached braking areas, the steering wheel position appeared to have an effect on the camber of the wheels – calling into question the legality of the device.
Mercedes say they’re sure of the system’s legality, which they have christened ‘DAS (Dual Axis Steering)’ and that there has been constant discussion with the FIA throughout its development, while Lewis Hamilton said it was very easy to operate and dismissed any concerns regarding the safety of its operation.
Asked to comment on his perspective on the device fitted to Ferrari’s rivals, Sebastian Vettel said he assumed it was legal to run: “I’ve seen it, and we spoke about it at lunchtime. It looks interesting and I guess the fact they’re running it means that it’s legal. I don’t know…it’s called a steering wheel, not a push or pull wheel. I don’t know if it works, I’m assuming it takes a lot of work to bring it to the track. It’s probably not as easy as it looks for the driver to work with it but we will see. For sure, it was a novelty for us to see.”
Asked about whether Ferrari could fast-track development of a similar system if it turns out DAS offers benefits to a car’s pace, Vettel said: “We looked at the onboards, and we’re lucky to have had them here or maybe we wouldn’t have spotted it. I don’t know how difficult it would be, we’ve been concentrating and busy with our own car. I don’t know if it’s easy to do, I guess no because these things never are. But I also guess it’s not easy to operate, I actually think it’s weird. When you have the feeling you might suddenly have the wheel come off in your hands.”
However, he’s confident that the FIA won’t allow a device to be fitted to the car if it isn’t safe to use and operate on track: “I could just imagine it feels weird. If it’s faster, then there’s no concern you go for the faster option. Years ago, we had the f-duct, and we drove around with one hand around most tracks. It wasn’t safe, but it was fast, and you do what you’re pushed to do. But that’s why we have the FIA, to look after us and make sure everything makes sense and we’ve got our hands on the wheel.”
Vettel had his first taste of the SF1000 on Thursday, having sat out Wednesday with a fever from a dose of flu last week. Recovered sufficiently to drive the afternoon, Vettel clocked up 73 laps and a best time of 1:18.1 to finish P6 on the timesheets.
Vettel says his initial impressions of the new car are that the downforce weaknesses of the SF90 have been addressed: “Whether there’s enough we will see, but it’s definitely a step up from last year. Downforce does come with drag,and you try to find downforce without too much drag which I think we’ve found as well. It’s too early to tell much more than that.”
“I had a few laps and very quickly you feel the characteristics of the car. I think it is better in some places and, in others, some similarities. Plenty of stuff to go through for the next four days to try and see what the car will do and respond to certain setups and windows where we use the car. We’re still at the beginning. We have a clear plan of what we want to achieve with this year’s car and it’s going in that direction. It’s up to use to really explore the car from back to front.”
