Translation:
Drama at the team bosses' meeting
CANADA 2022 GP At the team bosses' meeting in Montreal, things got pretty heated behind the scenes. Toto Wolff is said to have been particularly emotional during the dispute over the issue of bouncing, according to eyewitnesses. After the race, the play was then performed in public.
In addition to the sport on the track, there is always a lot of politics going on off the track in Formula 1. But it has been a long time since the premier class has seen such a clamour as in Montreal. The bouncing problem of the new generation of racing cars and the potential dangers for the drivers divide the field into two camps. In one is Mercedes, in the other the nine remaining teams.
The FIA also added fuel to the fire with its surprise technical directive (TD) one day before the first Canadian practice session. When F1 boss Stefano Domenicali called the ten team bosses to the usual meeting in his pavilion on Saturday morning, the mood was already quite testy. The discussions were correspondingly emotional.
Outburst of rage after Ferrari objection
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto voiced his concerns that the FIA had not followed the formally correct path in introducing the TD. After the race, the Italian also stated his position publicly: "For us, the TD is not applicable. We have also explained that to the FIA. A TD is normally there to provide clarifications regarding existing rules. A TD is not there to change the rules. If the FIA wants different rules for safety reasons, it has to declare it in the World Council, and get it formally signed off."
Mercedes colleague Toto Wolff reportedly reacted angrily to the Ferrari objection, according to reports from other participants. The Austrian accused the entire group of colleagues of acting irresponsibly. If nothing is done to get the bouncing under control, he said, there will be a serious accident at some point.
After last year's World Championship duel, the feud between Wolff and Horner continues on the subject of bouncing.
Because a Netflix crew was present in the room to shoot footage for the next season of the documentary series "Drive to Survive," Red Bull team boss Christian Horner reportedly asked mockingly if Wolff's little tantrum was just for the cameras. The Briton later explained to the press: "There was quite a bit of drama produced in the meeting. Maybe he wanted to get ready for a role in Lewis' (Hamilton) new movie."
Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack, who has only been in office since the start of the season, followed the spectacle with some astonishment. "There was a bit of emotion in the meeting. There was a camera. I think Christian asked if it could be turned off. But I can't say if it was still recording at the end and if the microphones were open the whole time."
Bouncing just a Mercedes problem?
After the race, the verbal duel went into the second round. Horner urged Mercedes to look at its own nose when it comes to bouncing: "In the meeting, Ferrari put forward its position on the TD. And Toto campaigned to change the regulations. There's a certain irony in that, because his car looked pretty fast in the race and hardly showed any bouncing. We then explained to him that it wasn't the problem of all the teams. They were the ones most affected. It's their responsibility to deal with it properly.
"Is bouncing such a big issue only at Mercedes or at all teams?
Wolff wasn't about to take that lying down. Mercedes continues to insist that it is a general safety problem: "The political games ignore the real core of the issue. Since the beginning of the season, drivers from all teams have been complaining about the cars. We're talking about back pain, blurred vision and minor concussions. This is not about banning a wing that gives a team an advantage. As team principals, we have a responsibility not to take the issue lightly."
Here, too, came the direct counter from the Red Bull camp: "Toto claims that all the other drivers have complained. But no complaints ever came from our drivers. Mercedes drives its car so hard. I think it's more a problem of their car concept and not a problem of the regulations. You can't just change the rules in the middle of the season. If a team feels that their car is dangerous, then they shouldn't use it. In case of doubt, the FIA can also take a car out of the race by black flagging it," Horner said.
Trouble over Mercedes support cables
There was also a dispute about the specific content of the technical directive. Ferrari criticized the fact that no proper procedure was defined for the measurements of the intensity of the bouncing and for the definition of limit values. Therefore, he said, the TD was also not applicable. "In the end, much ado was made about nothing," Binotto shook his head.
The second support cable for stabilizing the subsoil, which was allowed with the TD, also caused discussion. It is supposed to help reduce shaking. "The introduction of the second support cable needs to be discussed in a technical committee," Horner criticized. "It only helps one team to fix its problems. And that team was also the only one that showed up here directly with it - before the TD was even sent out."
Mercedes tried a second support cable in free practice, which had only been allowed a day earlier.
Red Bull wasn't the only one surprised at how quickly Mercedes was able to react to the new rules. "Toto claimed that they fitted the support cables overnight. All I can say to that is that we, as Ferrari, would not have been able to do that," Binotto clarified.
Alpine also expressed its annoyance. "They must have known about it beforehand. There's no other way something like this could have happened," scolded team boss Otmar Szafnauer. Alpine had even announced a protest if Mercedes had competed in the race with the additional fasteners.
Rumors quickly made the rounds in the paddock that former Wolff advisor Shaila-Ann Rao might have tipped Mercedes off. The lawyer had taken over the position at the FIA as Formula One executive director from Peter Beyer just a few weeks ago. Binotto admitted that he is not entirely happy with the personnel matter: "I have concerns, no question. But the confidence in the FIA is there. She is an advocate and she is a professional. I'm confident that the FIA can prove in the future that our concerns are unfounded.
I think the best drivers are always the ones that can make the best of what's under them regardless and Max does seem to be one of those guys. Look at Riciardo, he's a great driver but the current Mclaren doesn't allow him to use his late breaking like he could in the RB. (Which seems to be a big part of his driving style) The Mclaren front end just doesn't give him the confidence to race how he likes and he's suffering for it. But he's also the same Riciardo that was trading blows with Max when in a car that suited him. I saw a video on Youtube where Sainz spoke to him and was like, 'how are you handling that Mclaren? It's weird isn't it' And Riciardo was like, 'Yeah thanks for that, you could've told me last year!' 
.
