The shark fin and T-wing aerodynamic structures seen on the 2017 specification cars, which were introduced by teams this year following the new rules update, have come in for plenty of criticism so far this season, with a number of team bosses not favouring the unsightly appendage, Haas F1 Team Boss Guenther Steiner however, does not see the problem with them.
Red Bull Racing Boss Christian Horner in particular has been vocal on the subject, and has already called for them to be banned as soon as possible on numerous occasions.
Steiner feels they are not really that bad, and says the American squad would be happy either with or without them attached to the car, but does not think a decision should be made by the FIA that will impact their use this season.
“The regulations were written that we can put them on, so we need to leave them on this year.
“I don’t think they should make a decision now about this year, but if everyone agrees that they should be gone next year then I think it can be done.
“I don’t think the shark fin looks bad or the T-wing looks bad. I think different people find different things that are nice or not nice.
“But if everyone agrees that we take it off, then I think we can work with that as well.”
It is an interesting viewpoint from Steiner, considering that at the first race weekend of the season in Australia, the American squad were asked to remove their T-wing ahead of FP2 on safety grounds, due to the amount of movement it was generating.
At the time, Steiner was unsure whether the appendage would be able to make a return to the VF17, but having made immediate amendments following the practice session, by adding carbon fibre reinforcements to the shark fin, the American squad were able to reduce the amount of flex and reinstate the device ahead of qualifying for the 2017 Australian Grand Prix.
Driver Romain Grosjean ended up starting from sixth on the grid following that qualifying session, but it is hard to say whether that was down to the T-wing structure or not. Clearly, Haas feel that it is a useful device; having put in a lot of time and effort to make it compliant as quickly as possible.
