Mercedes Dual Axis Steering To Be Banned In The Wake New Formula 1 Regulations

Mercedes Benz F1 team is recognized for being aggressive in pushing the limits of their vehicles through cutting edge technologies, but one of their latest technologies is being banned.

The technology Mercedes Benz is using in their 2020 Formula 1 car is known as Dual-Axis Steering, and once new regulation takes effect, it will be banned from use during the upcoming 2021 season.

DAS, the dual-axis steering system from Mercedes, is a system that enables the driver to adjust what the racing world calls the toes of the tires.

Under normal circumstances, the cars competing in the F1 championship are engineered to have the toes of the tires out. In this setup, when the car is traveling on a straight line, the tires point away from the center.

A car that is set up like this will offer better handling on turns but will not perform well on straight.

Mercedes AMG and their designed DAS system address the issue of the set up by giving the driver the option of pulling on the steering wheel to eliminate the toe out system.

There is footage of this system being used from an on-camera video from pre-season testing.

Despite the controversy surrounding the DAS system, there is still no concrete data on the advantages that this system brings.

Formula 1 technical teams studying this issue have suggested the DAS system could help distribute the heat across the tires.

Other analysts say that the benefits could be seen in the aerodynamics of the car and the car's rolling resistance.

According to the regulations the F1 enforces on all competitors, all suspensions with geometries adjusted using a computer or manually done by the driver are banned.

However, the Mercedes AMG team designed their DAS system in a way that obeys the rules of F1 but will only be able to use it for this season.

The F1 governing body FIA was notified about the DAS system last fall.

The new article 10.5 rule says that the realignment of the steered wheels has to be defined by a monotonic function of the rational position of a single steering wheel.

FIA's race director Michael Masi said that the F1 teams must work within the boundaries of the new regulations for 2021.

The champion Lewis Hamilton speaking to reporters stated he was unsure of how good the new system was since he had only tested it in a single morning, but was excited about the new development and that it would hopefully work to their benefit.