Sauber was the first team to follow McLaren and introduce its own version of the F-duct system, arriving at just the second round of the championship in Australia. However, a variation on the F-duct would return in 2012 with an FIA-approved Mercedes DRS design the subject of much controversy early in the season, although its then technical director Ross Brawn was adamant that the solution couldn't be illegal as F-ducts hadn't been properly defined in the first place. This resulted in the corresponding slot on the rear face of the wing being moved too.ĭespite the rules prohibiting driver-induced aerodynamics, the FIA did not prevent the F-duct's development.īut as teams faced difficulties incorporating it into homologated chassis, and with questionable designs emerging that required drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel to activate it, there could be little surprise when the concept was banned and replaced with the hydraulically activated DRS systems that remain today. The team also made a revision to the entire rear-end of the assembly in Japan, following Force India's path of connecting the ducts to the mainplane rather than the top flap to produce a greater stall effect. For Monaco, the team using supplementary inlets and outlets in the rear wing mainplane (pictured below), whilst at Monza it split its strategy, with Hamilton lamenting his decision not follow Button's lead and keep the F-duct as he could only qualify fifth and was eliminated in first lap contact with Felipe Massa's Ferrari.
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