New Ferrari Wheel Cover Test Sparks Controversy - FIA Initiative Fails to Impress

Another round of efforts to avoid the spray of water that obstructs the vision of the cyclists. The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile has been developing initiatives in recent months to allow drivers and teams to improve visibility in the water. One proposal, which the test teams did last year, seems to have been definitively rejected. Thursday morning in Maranello there was a test of the new generation of wheel covers and they look very strange.

From vague “mud guards” that are not even visible at first glance, the FIA went to completely cover all four wheels. The premiere took place on Thursday morning in Maranello. Representatives from the Italian portal Formu1a.uno were also present. Although the test was not public, everyone knows where to stand to get a good view of the Fiorano circuit.

The youth of the stable sat in the cockpits of two Ferraris Oliver Bearman a Arthur Leclerc. Italian media announced that Fiorano will come to life at the end of this week. The team is supposed to test the improved version of the same seat on the circuit during the day of filming. This is the final stage in the development of a large package of improvements that are planned to be used at Imola.

In addition, the program included testing a new wheel cover for the water. Last year, the FIA tried a rather different solution, which it implemented at Silverstone with the help of Mercedes and McLaren. It was a spectacular failure. The monopost of the mentioned team was then covered, followed by the second one. However, the data did not yield the expected results.

The solution, which was built by the reporters of the Italian portal Form1a.uno, is another result of the efforts of the FIA technical department under the leadership of Nikolas Tombazis. Testing the prototype fell this time to Ferrari, which has a water facility in Fiorano. A sunny spring day in Italy turned into a rainy one in a matter of minutes, and the same seat F1-75 from 2022 and this year’s SF-24 – so far without improvements, which we are told we will only see forward. Friday – hit the trail without wheel covers.

You can see the result yourself in the images of Form1a.uno. It seems impossible to find a solution that would only be visible on closer inspection. The FIA has apparently decided that all wheels must be completely covered to improve visibility.

Form1a.uno