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‘Fric’ storm exits F1 with a whimper

As quickly as the ‘Fric’ storm swept into the paddock, it left with barely a whimper.

“It changed nothing,” said Niki Lauda, chairman of the Mercedes team that supposedly would suffer most from the effective banning of the suspension technology.

“It just cost a lot of money,” he told German television RTL.

Indeed, Nico Rosberg dominated the German grand prix without the sophisticated ‘Fric’ system that was present for the silver W05’s eight other wins in 2014.

“It was said that Mercedes has the most complex system – the best system – but the hierarchy has apparently not shifted at all,” said commentator Marc Surer on German television Sky.

Even Mercedes’ rivals agree.

“To be honest, it seemed to have changed nothing with us,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. “It had no effect.

“So now we have two kilos less ballast!”

 

© RIF | GMM