Out board wing mirrors to be banned.

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Outboard mirrors to be banned

By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer Thursday, April 1st 2010, 08:49 GMT


Outboard mirrors are to be banned from Formula 1 with effect from the Chinese Grand Prix in two weeks' time, AUTOSPORT has learned, following concerns over poor visibility from sidepod-mounted mirrors creating a safety issue.

Several teams have mounted their mirrors on the sidepods of their cars for aerodynamic reasons, with Ferrari and Red Bull Racing's mirror positioning the most dramatic. But from Shanghai onwards, the mirrors will have to be fitted on the cockpit sides on safety grounds.

Drivers had said in Melbourne last weekend that they would be speaking to the FIA about the mirror problem. Several issues of accidental blocking in practice were put down to poor rear visibility.

"Everyone has got a problem with mirrors," said Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa in Australia. "The reality is that the mirrors on the sidepods, they give you very small vision of what is happening behind and they vibrate a lot so you see very little.

"So if you don't have a lot of information coming from the radio, then you have a problem. You can see when you have a car straight behind okay, but when it is two seconds behind you have no idea where it is.

"Everyone has the same problem, but since the mirrors have gone outboard this is a problem - as they are aerodynamic devices now."

But Ferrari's Felipe Massa said he was quite happy with his team's mirror design.

"I have no problem with my visibility," he insisted. "So, if it is the same I prefer to keep what I have, but we will see how it is going to be. I hope we don't lose anything moving the mirrors from one side to the other."
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Its been looming, a long time coming, and now its finally happened. Discuss.
 
Good this will make drivers more aware of the others.
 
lpb-nissan-gt-r
Good this will make drivers more aware of the others.
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Just because the mirrors cannot be out board, doesn't mean they will be more effective. Maybe the need some sort of visibility test.
 
Yes but efficiency is better somewhere in the australian g.p. fernando alonso had to turn to look in his mirrors and then he made a mistake.
 
peterjford
Just because the mirrors cannot be out board, doesn't mean they will be more effective. Maybe the need some sort of visibility test.
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Doesn't the FIA already have one?

EDIT: They do. From the 2010 Technical Regulations:

"14.3.4 The FIA technical delegate must be satisfied by a practical demonstration that the driver, when seated normally, can clearly define following vehicles.
For this purpose, the driver shall be required to identify any letter or number, 150mm high and 100mm wide, placed anywhere on boards behind the car, the positions of which are detailed below :
Height : From 400mm to 1000mm from the ground.
Width : 4000mm either side of the car centre line."
Position : 10m behind the rear wheel centre line.
 
Way to make the Ferrari and Red Bull look ugly. :grumpy:
 
:idea:Return of the swept-back wing near the cockpit with the addition of mirrors on the ends for the Ferrari F10, perhaps?
 
Why can't they be a convex mirror, thus giving up to 150 degrees+ of vision on each side.
Vibration is an obvious problem, but they are at the forefront of technology.
A air filled cylinder of some sort to absorb the vibrations could be option.
It couldn't be that hard to get something to work.
 
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