Ferrari reserve driver Ollie Bearman believes F1 and the FIA must go “back to the drawing board” after testing the second iteration of wet-weather spray guards.
Last Thursday, Ferrari took to track to conduct an FIA test aimed at reducing wheel spray in wet conditions.
The test involved wetting the Fiorano test track and sending development driver Arthur Leclerc out with the new designs, which could be either fully enclosed or feature holes.
Speaking in Imola…
Ollie Bearman, Ferrari’s reserve driver, followed Leclerc to evaluate visibility with the new guards. When interviewed by motorsport.com at the Imola Grand Prix, where he drove in FP1 for Haas, he shared that he found no significant improvement.
“So far, not really much to say about them. I think you saw the videos, it was quite similar. So I think back to the drawing board, we need to keep looking at it.”
Bearman suggested that more work is needed after experimenting with various configurations.
He pointed out that the challenge posed by current F1 cars’ reliance on ground effect-generated downforce worsens spray issues. The F2 driver said, “The visibility was still pretty tough out there. It was slightly better for sure, the work has gone into something, but it’s not fixed.”
Although some improvement was observed, visibility remained problematic, indicating that the issue is not fully resolved. With this, Bearman believes it should be back to the drawing board for F1.
This trial builds upon a previous attempt at Silverstone last year, with the aim of achieving better results.
Image Credit: Rudy Carezzevoli/Getty Images.