FIA Reverses Decision: Reactive Ride Banned Next Season

The FIA has ruled that the reactive ride height system, which we reported on just over a week ago, is not legal for the sport because it gives an aerodynamic benefit. That means that Team Lotus and Ferrari will have to scrap their systems and start from square one. 

The reactive ride suspension worked by hydraulically keeping the car flat while it was under braking, which would keep it from dipping improve handling. The FIA had originally ruled that the system was legal because the driver was not directly responsible for the change in ride height. The system was reacting to the brake force to do the adjustment. 

Now the FIA has completely reversed that decision. As more teams became interested in the system, it investigated it further and decided that the system was changing the aerodynamics of the car, which is illegal under the rules. 

The curious part about this ruling is that it took the FIA so long to make the decision. Any layman could see that changing the way the front wing bites into the air under braking is going to change the car's aerodynamics. It makes you wonder what made the FIA allow it in the first place. 

Remember when Formula 1 was the most elite motorsport in the world with the best drivers and the most technologically advanced cars. Well, the drivers might still be great, but the FIA seems dead set on taking the technology out of Formula 1.

What would be wrong with setting safety regulations and  a limit on either engine displacement or total power and then letting teams experiment from there. If the FIA keeps this up, the Le Mans series is going to take the technology crown away, if it has not already. Next season there will certainly be a petrol hybrid at Le Mans from Toyota, and Audi's new car is rumored to be a diesel hybrid. The car Peugeot was testing before it dropped out was a diesel hybrid. 

Source: Autosport